Published: May 26, 2013, 12:23 PM (IST)
Edited: May 26, 2013, 12:23 PM (IST)
Bishan Singh Bedi has never held back his views on the Indian Premier League © Getty Images
Mumbai: May 26, 2013
Bishan Singh Bedi has once again slammed the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the controversies surrounding it. The former India captain has criticised the administrators as well.
Bedi has always been a critic of Twenty20 cricket and says the game’s reputation has taken a beating. But he is sure that cricket will always survive any storm.
“Cricket is an institution and it is being battered left, right and centre (through the IPL 2013 spot-fixing controversy). The administrators will never clean it up. How can dirty people clean the dirt? We cricketers are to be blamed for this,” said Bedi to Mid-Day.
“We fall prey invariably to the manipulation of business people, politicians, bureaucrats. That is how crooked climbers get on top of shoulders and get what they want – and not what cricket wants.
“Just look at how many politicians are heading various state associations. We don’t have to look far. You don’t need rocket science to prove anything,” he said of his views on the administrators.
He did not hold anything back as he spoke of the IPL as well. “Right from its inception, the IPL was nothing but a very corrupt seed.”
In light of the controversies, former IPL chief Lalit Modi called the BCCI a bully. Bedi though said, “It is the pot calling the kettle black.”
But the former India spinner said cricket will prevail. “Cricket’s future will always be good. We individuals may have our weak links, our weak points. Cricket does not have any weak points.
“Cricket is a very powerful medium. All these fellows have tried to make cricket naked. But I have enormous faith in the game. I have lost faith in cricketers and administrators, but I have not lost faith in cricket.
“It is, and always will be, beautiful to me. I am not going to be carried away with this IPL rubbish. This is just a drama enacted in front of us. Cricket is the only sport… the only sport which reflects the times we live in,” he added.
When asked whether the IPL might be scrapped, Bedi concluded saying, “The curtain should have not gone up in the first place. But let’s see… I am hopeful.”
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