1983 World Cup winners throw weight behind protesting wrestlers

Members of the 1983 World Cup winning cricket team on Friday came out in support of the protesting wrestlers and urged them not to take any hasty decision while hoping that playersrsquo issues will be ldquoheard and resolvedrdquoIn a joint statement the 1983 triumphant team said ldquoWe are distressed and disturbed at the unseemly visuals of our champion wrestlers being manhandled We are also most concerned that they are thinking of dumping their hard earned medals into river GangardquoldquoThose medals have involved years of effort sacrifice determination and grit and are not only their own but the nationrsquos pride and joy We urge them not to take any hasty decision in this matter and also fervently hope that their grievances are heard and resolved quickly Let the law of the land prevailrdquo it addedVinesh Phogat Sakshi Malik Bajrang Punia and many other wrestlers who have been demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India WFI chief Birj Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual exploitation of a minor and six women wrestlers took their protest to Haridwar on May 30 But they did not carry out the threat of immersing their medals into river GangaldquoI am not going to say anything individually the whole of 1983 team stands by the statement we have issuedrdquo said legendary skipper Kapil Dev under whom the Indian cricket team had humbled the mighty Clive Lloyd ledWest Indies to win the countryrsquos first World Cup trophy The other members of the rsquo83 batch include current Roger Binny who is now BCCI president iconic Sunil Gavaskar Mohinder Amarnath K Srikanth Syed Kirmani Yashpal Sharma Madan Lal Balwinder Singh Sandhu Sandeep Patil and Kirti AzadOn May 28 the Delhi police had stopped the wrestlers from marching towards the new Parliament building even as it was being inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi and detained themThe police action had invited criticism from different quarters Among other former Indian cricketers Anil Kumble Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan have shown solidarity with the elite wrestlers The active cricketers are yet to comment on the controversyAyodhya says no to Brij Bhushanrsquos rallyThe district administration has denied permission to BJP MP and WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to hold a rally here on June 5 in view of the events scheduled on the World Environment Day on June 5 an official said on Friday Singh however claimed he postponed the lsquoJan Chetna Maharallyrsquo for ldquoa few daysrdquo due to the ongoing police probe into the wrestlersrsquo allegations against himThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever