India vs. Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024: After the Pat Cummins-led team defeated India 3-1 in the series, cricketing great Sunil Gavaskar was incensed that he had not received an invitation from Cricket Australia to present the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) to them.

Notably, Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar are honored in the names of the Test series between Australia and India. For the first time in a decade, the Australian squad won the Border-Gavaskar again. In 2018–19, India won their first Test series in Australia, and they did it again in the 2020–21 trip.

In an intriguing turn of events, Border was the only one to give the trophy to Cricket Australia (CA), and Gavaskar was not called to the stage. Despite being there at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the former India batsman was disappointed by the decision and wondered why.

“I would have wanted to attend the presentation, no doubt. It is, after all, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and Australia and India are involved. I mean, I’m on the ground here. In my opinion, the fact that Australia prevailed in the presentation shouldn’t matter. They won because they played better cricket. It’s okay. The only reason I didn’t deliver the prize was because I’m Indian. According to CODE Sports, Gavaskar said, “I would have been delighted to present the trophy with my good friend Allan Border.”

Speaking positively about his connection with Border, the former captain of India said it was an honor to share the trophy’s name with him.

“AB (Border) is someone I really like. When we both played for the Rest of the World squad against MCC during the MCC Bicentennial festivities in 1987, our friendship really took off. Before the match against MCC, we played a couple games against the county and traveled together for three weeks. We became close and learned about the person, the culture, and each other. Similar to what the Indian Premier League accomplishes now, which is to unite individuals from many nations. The fact that the series between Australia and India is named after us makes me feel honored, fortunate, and grateful. It’s a privilege because it’s such a legendary series,” Gavaskar said.

India won the series handily, however they lost the fifth and final Test match against Australia by 10 wickets in Sydney.