New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS): Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has strongly denied writing an article attributed to him on a cricket website and has threatened legal action against those responsible. The website, Cricket Ception, published a column on Friday evening titled “A New Era in Leadership: Bumrah’s Captaincy and Kohli’s Leadership Revive Team India”, falsely claiming it was written by the former captain.

Gavaskar addressed the issue on Instagram on Saturday, sharing a video where he clarified that he had no connection with the article and demanded its immediate removal. The cricket legend also asked the website to issue a public apology, warning that failure to comply would lead to legal action.

In the video, Gavaskar stated: “Hi, this is Sunil Gavaskar, and I want to say that there is a website, Cricket Ception, which has printed an article under my name. I have to say that it is completely fake. I have not contributed that at all, and I want to tell that website to take it down immediately. Issue an apology. If you don't do that, I will give the matter to my legal team. So don’t believe a word of what you’ve read. This is a completely fake article attributed to me.”

Gavaskar also urged fans to be cautious about misinformation online, writing, “Never believe everything you see on the Internet #alwaysverify” in the caption of his Instagram post.

The controversy arose during the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Perth Stadium, where India delivered a dominant performance under stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah.

Leading from the front, Bumrah picked a dazzling 5-30 as India stretched their to over 100 at tea on day two of the first Test after bowling out Australia for 104. It was also the third-lowest score for Australia in Tests at home since 2000.