Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves have been a nationwide topic of debate since India played its Cricket World Cup opener on June 5. During the match against South Africa, Dhoni donned an insignia of the Indian Para Special Forces on his gloves, a move that was later disallowed for future by the International Cricket Council.

As the topic led to during prime time debates on television news channels, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar made a trademark sarcastic comment when asked for his response.

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Appearing from England on a debate on Sports Tak, a channel of the India Today media group, Gavaskar made a scathing attack on those demanding that India should boycott the tournament. “Have you thought about how India will win the World Cup if they don’t play at all? Do you even think before talking?” he said to the news anchor.

As an extended video clip shows, Gavaskar said that it is easy for non-stakeholders to make such demands because it is the players, and not they who train hard for four years in preparation for the World Cup.

“People make such statements to gain publicity for themselves. What sort of nationalism is this?” Gavaskar added.