Saying that the communication aspect of the issues is greatly facilitated by the fact that an Indian junior player is free to talk to a former Indian player or Indian coach, Gavaskar pointed to the record of IPL teams. Of the 15 titles, 12 have been won by teams led by Indians, he said.

Speaking about Gautam Gambhir’s influence, Gavaskar said players like Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni and Naveen-ul-Haq are now thriving because they have a mentor like Gambhir behind them.

Look at Rinku Singh’s progress under Chandu Pandit, the stunning return to form of Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarty, the growth of Nitish Rana as captain. Under Gautam Gambhir’s guidance, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni and Naveen-ul-Haq are blossoming, as are Ashish Nehra and Hardik Pandya, who invariably find a new player of the match, Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

It’s simply because on these teams, Indian players are easy to communicate and easy to reach. Of course, there is always a foreign champion who knows how to find common ground with young players and can be a guide and mentor for them. But those are rare exceptions, not the norm, Gavaskar added. Gambhir, who has won the IPL twice, was named mentor to the Lucknow SuperGiants last year.