Former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar shared a story about being approached by a member of the IPL Governing Council after he personally contacted captains of the eight IPL teams. He sought their suggestions on how to improve the tournament.
“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 mentioned in his column for Mid Day.
One notable suggestion came from Adam Gilchrist, the captain of the now-defunct Deccan Chargers. He proposed a format that would give teams finishing first and second in the points table an additional chance to reach the finals.
“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,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar recounted that another IPL governing body member questioned his authority for writing to the team captains. He clarified that he acted in a personal capacity. He intended to pass these suggestions to the governing council for consideration. The suggestions were accepted, ultimately leading to the Playoff format now seen in the tournament.
“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. 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 that each franchise tries to do. Finish in the top two, so they can get another bite of the cherry,” Gavaskar explained.
Gavaskar served on the IPL governing council for its first three seasons. He became the President of the BCCI for IPL affairs in 2014 following a Supreme Court ruling after the IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013.