16 April,2010 08:50 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, shares his anger and disgust over the IPL fiasco
Kapil Dev knows a thing or two about cricket and controversies. India's only ODI world cup winning captain was embroiled in the match-fixing scandal. Later he became associated with the Indian Cricket League in 2007, a diminutive version of the IPL, which was yet to come. Unfortunately the BCCI refused recognition to the ICL and the players of the league. Kapil was sacked as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy. Now with the ongoing IPL controversy, the former Indian captain says he feels hurt to see this soap opera.
Hurt & disgusted Kapil Dev
Speaking to MiD DAY, Kapil said, "The media should restrain itself. What you people are reporting is causing grave damage to the game. Either you should report what the facts are or please stop and don't spoil the game."
Even though he doesn't share the most cordial relations with them, Kapil did not hit out at those who are running the IPL. "I think the BCCI should intervene at this point. And I hope they would sort it out without causing anymore damage to the game," he said.
He blamed the media for going overboard.u00a0 "You are sensationalising everything. This is not good for cricket. Saying something sensational will further trivialise the matter. So, I don't want to get involved. Please leave me out of it," Kapil requested.
When asked if the commercialization of the game was the crux of the problem, Kapil said, "If money comes in that's good. I don't see any problem with that. It will be great if more and more money comes in. I do not think there is any problem of commercialisation. It will help in the promotion of game."
The former all-rounder, who never shied away from a contest on the field, was evasive when asked who he held responsible for the current controversy. "You people know better than me. But one thing I know for sure is that whatever is happening is not good for the game," he said.
