Cricket Australia has acknowledged that Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar should have been invited to join former opponent Allan Border on stage to present the trophy named in their honour at the SCG on Sunday afternoon.
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Australia won the New Year’s Test by six wickets to seal a 3-1 series victory and regain the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which has been in India’s possession for nearly a decade.
Border presented the trophy to Australian captain Pat Cummins and his teammates near the SCG Members’ Stand, with Gavaskar watching on from about 100 metres away.
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“I certainly would have loved to have been there for the presentation,’’ Gavaskar told News Corp.
“After all it is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and it is about Australia and India.
“I mean, I am here at the ground. To me it should not matter Australia won when it comes to the presentation. They played the better cricket so they won. That’s fine.
“I would have been happy to present the trophy with my good friend Allan Border.”
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CA later confirmed that Gavaskar was aware he would have presented the award to Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah if the tourists had won the Sydney Test and retained the trophy.
“We acknowledge it would have been preferable if both Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar had been asked to go on stage,” a CA spokesperson said in a statement.