Former India captains Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Krishnamachari Srikkanth said on Thursday that the BCCI will have to abide by the suggestions of the Supreme Court but refused to comment on the specific proposals made by the apex court.
The SC proposed the replacement of Srinivasan by former captain Sunil Gavaskar and suspension of franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from IPL 7 till the pendency of the betting and spot fixing case.
The apex court also proposed to pass an order barring India Cements officials from getting involved with the functioning of BCC. “First, wait for the Supreme Court to give its verdict and whatever the final verdict of the SC, I am sure all of us law abiding citizens will abide by the decision,” Mr. Kumble said. He said cricket, like in all fields of life, was not immune to such incidents (corruption).
“The first set of these allegations came in 1999—2000, but the players responsibly put things in place,” Mr. Kumble told reporters on the sidelines of event organised by Gillete in Bangalore.
“Even now the players on field will determine how the game is going to be seen and the fans of course will look at it that way. And yes, we have an opportunity to do whatever we can to ensure that the game is above all of this,” he said.
Reacting to allegations that cricket bodies in the South have been supportive of Mr. Srinivasan in spite of the heat he has been facing from all quarters, Mr. Kumble said it was not a conditional support.
“You need to understand that it’s not just one person that you are talking about. You are talking about a cricket association and it was not a conditional support. Yes, it was important for us to take cricket forward and you need it to take support from the association at that point of time and I don’t see a reason there is something wrong in supporting.” Asked about Supreme Court proposals, Rahul Dravid said, “I would not like to make any comment because I have not seen the proposal and these matters are in the court. We have to wait for the court judgment.”
Asked whether the spot-fixing allegations have damaged reputation of cricket, Mr. Dravid said in life some things happen which should not have happened, but not everything is wrong. “Earlier, these incidents have occurred, but the game is great and will continue as it were. Some things in life are bad, we need to rectify them. However, the sport will not be lesser,” he added.
Asked about Supreme Court’s proposal to make cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar as president of the BCCI till the IPL spot-fixing case is disposed off, Mr. Srikkanth said, “At this point of time we cannot comment. Everything is subjudice.” “But Supreme Court is supreme and everybody will have to follow what it says. There is no other way,” Mr. Srikkanth said. Asked if he was hurt by the Supreme Court proposal to bar CSK and RR from IPL 7, Mr. Srikkanth said he did not know of the issue.
