Sunil Gavaskar has strongly criticised several overseas players for opting out of the early phase of Indian Premier League 2026, accusing them of taking the league’s hospitality for granted and urging franchises to adopt a stricter stance.

A number of high-profile absentees are set to miss the opening matches. Australian pace trio Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will be unavailable for the first three games due to fitness concerns, with Cricket Australia reportedly managing their workload amid a demanding schedule. Meanwhile, Lockie Ferguson is also set to miss a few matches as he spends time with his newborn child.

Writing in his Sportstar column, Gavaskar did not hold back in his assessment of the situation, pointing to what he believes is a recurring issue with certain overseas players.

“There is also the usual taking the franchise for granted issue with some overseas players, who are not going to be available for non-injury and personal reasons,” Gavaskar wrote. “The owners of the franchises go out of their way to accommodate their players often paying for families to come and spend time with the players at no cost to the millionaire players, mind you. It’s the Indian way and hospitality, which often is misunderstood as a right by some and who then try and take advantage of the situation,” he added.

He further warned that such late unavailability disrupts team balance and planning, calling on franchises to take firm action.

“We are already hearing about some players who will not be available for a variety of reasons, none of which were informed before they were selected by the franchise. Unless franchise owners start to get tough and drop these players, they will find themselves being hampered in their efforts to win the title. All the planning in forming the squad which they believe can help them win, goes out of the window when players decide to come whenever they want,” he said.

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Gavaskar’s remarks echo similar concerns raised by others in the cricketing fraternity. Aakash Chopra recently criticised Ferguson’s absence, while Ravichandran Ashwin suggested that Kolkata Knight Riders should consider reducing Cameron Green’s contract value if he is unable to bowl during the season.

With IPL 2026 set to get underway, the debate around player availability and franchise planning is once again in sharp focus.

Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez’s rivalry remains unsettled after years of back and forth. In May, Benavidez seeks a legacy-defining win up at cruiserweight against Gilberto Ramirez, and now Canelo’s trainer has revealed his prediction for the bout.

Benavidez was in hot pursuit of Canelo for a number of years, possessing the WBC Interim super-middleweight title but still unable to secure a shot at the then undisputed champion, until he was forced to move up to light-heavyweight.

At 175lbs, ‘The Mexican Monster’ has become the WBC light-heavyweight champion, but in six weeks’ time, he ventures up to cruiserweight to challenge ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for the unified WBO and WBA marbles at 200lbs.

In an interview with K.O. Artist Sports, Eddy Reynoso, long-time trainer of Canelo, declared the fight as a close one, with the outcome hinging on which man makes fewer mistakes on the night.

“Zurdo is a fighter who works more with his footwork, controls distance, and is very strong. He throws combinations and has good defence.

“David is a great fighter who moves forward with a tight guard, throws strong combinations, and has a lot of speed.

“I think it’s a very evenly matched fight. Whoever performs better in the ring that night, whoever makes fewer mistakes, will win. It’s a very close fight in my opinion.”

Zurdo-Benavidez takes place on Saturday, May 2, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As for Canelo, the four-division conqueror remains sidelined until September, when he will presumably seek to reclaim a super-middleweight world title after losing them to Terence Crawford last year.

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling will likely revolve around Jasprit Bumrah in IPL 2026. He noted that MI have the option of leaving out Trent Boult and playing Corbin Bosch as the overseas seamer.

With 22 scalps at an economy rate of 8.96 in 16 innings, Boult was MI’s highest wicket-taker in IPL 2025. While Bumrah picked up 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.67 in 12 innings last season, Bosch accounted for a solitary dismissal in two innings while conceding an average of 7.85 runs per over.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter reckoned that Bumrah would be the central figure in the Mumbai Indians‘ bowling strategies in IPL 2026, pointing out that the five-time champions can play Bosch ahead of Boult, considering the left-arm seamer’s recent form.

“Bowling will be slightly more reliant on Bumrah now as well because Bumrah is Bumrah. There is no one like him in the entire world. So one over at the start, one over in the middle, and two overs at the death. Their bowling will revolve around him. Don’t bowl more than one over of Jasprit Bumrah in the powerplay. Use him wisely,” Chopra said.

“You can keep Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar at the top for swing bowling, although Trent Boult’s recent form is not good. His game has gone down a little. So that will be worth watching, because they will always have the option of leaving him out, as they can play Corbin Bosch. Corbin Bosch is a serious, serious player. I rate him very highly – bowling and batting,” he added.

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Corbin Bosch can bowl at the death and can also give an odd over with the new ball. He added that the Mumbai Indians can also use Allah Ghazanfar with the new ball, if the Afghanistan spinner is included in the playing combination, with Deepak Chahar and Hardik Pandya available as new-ball options in any case.

“No one should stop” – Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians’ potential batting strategy in IPL 2026

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that the Mumbai Indians should bat aggressively throughout their innings in IPL 2026.

“I feel everyone should hit with the bat. No one should stop. Why is there a need to stop when you have so much depth and might in batting? Quinton de Kock should start hitting with Rohit Sharma,” he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that MI have enough batting depth for everyone to play fearlessly.

“If Suryakumar Yadav comes at No. 3, he should hit. Whether Tilak Varma or Hardik Pandya comes at No. 4, they should hit. If Tilak comes at No. 5, he should hit. After that, Will Jacks and Naman Dhir are there. They should also hit. That should be enough for you to bat deep into the innings,” Chopra observed.

The Mumbai Indians can choose between Will Jacks and Sherfane Rutherford as an overseas lower-middle-order batter. They will have even greater batting depth if Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch and Deepak Chahar are part of their playing combination.