Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has revealed that he was once “pulled up” by a fellow IPL Governing Council member for writing letters to all eight franchise captains, asking for suggestions to improve the tournament.
Gavaskar, who served on the IPL Governing Council during the league’s first three seasons, said he had reached out to captains in his personal capacity as a former player and skipper, with the sole intention of helping the competition evolve further.
Interestingly, one of those suggestions eventually led to the introduction of the now-famous Qualifier and Eliminator playoff system, which gives the top two teams in the league standings an additional opportunity to reach the final.
Writing in his column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar recalled how former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist proposed the format change.
“Many years ago, when I was in the IPL Governing Council, I had in my personal capacity written to the captains of the eight franchises asking them how the IPL could be made even better than it was,” Gavaskar wrote.
“Most replied and while there was no major suggestion, the one from Adam Gilchrist recommending rewarding the teams finishing one and two another crack at the title with the Qualifier and Eliminator was a unique one,” he added.
Gavaskar also revealed that his initiative did not go down well with one member of the Governing Council, who questioned the authority behind his letters.
“I was pulled up by a member of the Governing Council, who asked with whose authority I had written to the franchise skippers for their suggestions,” Gavaskar said.
“I told him that I had written in my personal capacity as a former captain and player with the sole intention of seeing how we could make the IPL even better and didn’t need anybody’s permission to write to them.”
“It was now up to the Governing Council to accept or not. They did, and now it’s something every franchise tries to do — finish in the top two so they can get another bite of the cherry,” he added.
The batting legend concluded by saying that the early members of the IPL Governing Council treated the tournament “like their baby” and are now delighted to see how massively the league has grown over the years.
