Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has raised concerns and called for severe action against foreign players who leave the Indian Premier League (IPL) early for national duties. Gavaskar believes that these players are letting down the franchises that invest heavily in their participation and emphasized the need for IPL teams to deduct salaries and the BCCI to penalize the respective cricket boards.
French basketball phenom Zaccharie Risacher’s declaration for the 2024 NBA draft underscores a growing trend of foreign-born players shaping the league. Since 2011, five first overall draft picks have been foreign-born, including Kyrie Irving, Andrew Wiggins, and most recently, Wemby of France. The dominance extends beyond first picks, with the top three MVP vote-getters in 2022-2023 coming from Cameroon, Serbia, and Greece. Stars like Luka Dončić, Rudy Gobert, Kristaps Porzingis, and Domantas Sabonis also hail from overseas. While the NBA has always been global, foreign players are now becoming the sport’s centerpieces, challenging the historical dominance of American-born stars.
