Dravid and Gavaskar put some sense into IPL-Maharashtra water row

While talking to NDTV, former cricketing legends Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar spoke openly about the controversy surrounding the IPL matches being hosted in drought hit Maharashtra.

On the decision to shift the matches out of the state, Dravid said, “It’s a serious issue and the fact that so many people are dying because of shortage of water is serious but linking it to IPL will trivialise it. How can a drought be as important as cricket? If not having IPL will solve the problem, then we should stop playing cricket”.

Gavaskar also echoed Dravid’s sentiment and said that, “Farmers’ life has to be absolute priority. You cannot trivialise people who put bread on our table. That’s an absolute priority.”

He later added, “Is water being saved by not having IPL matches? If yes, how can it be done? The BCCI did guarantee that they will not use potable water. Franchises and BCCI, I believe, also offered to make donation. Those two were significant and good gestures.”

Gavaskar also spoke about how Cricket is always ‘singled out’ and the fact that he couldn’t understand why no one was even talking about any other activity where water is involved. In addition to being singled out, he also said that Cricket is also the most politicized sport where the decision to play or not play with a certain team takes precedence over the sport itself.

Both Gavaskar and Dravid concluded by saying that overcoming water scarcity requires long term planning and commitment; shifting IPL matches alone will not make any substantial difference to the state’s water crisis.