IPL 2013 spot-fixing: Retiring Delhi Police chief wants to weed out bad players

The game of cricket is too good to be spoilt and it is actually time to weed out some "bad" players from the sport, says Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar whose team is aiming to file the charge sheet in the IPL spot-fixing scandal before he hangs his boots end of next month.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar is afraid that love associated with the game may go forever © IANS

By Sumir Kaul

New Delhi: Jun 9, 2013

The game of cricket is too good to be spoilt and it is actually time to weed out some “bad” players from the sport, says Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar whose team is aiming to file the charge sheet in the IPL spot-fixing scandal before he hangs his boots end of next month.

59-year-old Kumar, who has been engaged in several high profile cases in his career spanning over three decades, feels that the spot-fixing scandal was a murder of faith of millions of cricket lovers.

“After this case surfaced I actually started getting into the history of this game and came across what Australian captain Bill Woodfull told English team manager Pelham Warner in 1932 when [the] bodyline attack was the order of the day between the two arch rivals.

“This game is too good to be spoilt. It’s time some people got out of it,” Kumar quoted Woodfull and added, “similarly, I echo the same view that the game is too good to be spoilt and it is actually time to weed out some bad players from the game.”

The police commissioner said that cricket was known as “gentleman’s game” but it is no longer the same. “The spot-fixing scandal will remain fresh in the memory of people as they will not be able to get over the cheating they had to face at the hands of some of the cricketers,” he told PTI.

“I am afraid that love associated with the game may go forever as the sweet gestures of players may now be viewed with suspicion by people,” he said.

And when asked about the criticism about application of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case, Kumar feels that it was a decision taken rightly after consulting legal experts.

“What is the fuss all about? I am not here for any media trial. My case will be judged by the courts where we will present our entire evidence.

“Here, bookies are negotiating rates with underworld people sitting in Dubai and Pakistan…Is this not an organised crime?” he asked.

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