NOVEMBER 19, 2018
Bishan Singh Bedi has always been critical of IPL – Getty
Legendary India spinner and former captain Bishan Singh Bedi has once again criticized the Indian Premier League, calling the cash-rich T20 league a “scam”.
Bedi has always been critical of IPL and has said that the T20 cricket tournament is a platform for money-laundering.
“I don’t want to say anything about IPL. There’s not a bigger scam in India than IPL. Nobody here knows where IPL’s money comes and goes. The second edition of the IPL happened in South Africa, millions of money was taken out of the country without the permission of Finance Minister,” Bedi said at Sahitya Aaj Tak.
Bedi further said that IPL shouldn’t be the basis to pick players for the national team.
“IPL should not be the basis of Indian selection, local T20 tournaments should be. A team has players who are paid high and ones who get less money. The lower income player doesn’t have the skills, how does he catch up? The only way he sees is betting. I have a lot of experience in cricket, you can tell what is happening in what match. If we stay blind even while seeing, then it’s our choice,” he said.
The 72-year-old also felt that Virat Kohli had quite a monopoly over decisions in and around the Indian cricket team and the same happened during the infamous fallout between him and the then Indian coach Anil Kumble.
There had been a total breakdown of communication between Kohli and Kumble. The players were far from happy with the coach’s headmasterly behaviour and there was absolutely no way the Cricket Advisory Committee, Committee of Administrators or the BCCI could have salvaged the situation. After what seemed like an eternity, Kumble stepped down as coach following a Champions Trophy final defeat to Pakistan.
In his resignation letter to the BCCI, Kumble wrote that the “captain had reservations” with his style of coaching.
It is widely believed that captain Virat Kohli and some other players in the team had taken against Kumble’s way of managing the team and were responsible for his resignation. It is also known that Ravi Shastri as the coach of the Indian cricket team was largely Kohli’s choice.
“That is what I am saying, one person [Virat Kohli] is doing all he wants and we are letting it happen. What would Anil [Kumble] have said, he was gracious to leave it like that,” Bedi said.
When asked about India’s chances Down Under, Bedi refrained from making any predictions but said that the Indian team is good.
“The Indian team is good, we all know that but the same team went to England and South Africa and those teams were also “weak”. Yes the bans have happened on two kids [Steve Smith and David Warner] but a team is not made of two individuals. In fact, our team is made of one person, everything is about Kohli. The amount of focus there is, you don’t realise how much pressure you are putting on that kid [Kohli], both as a batsman and a captain.”
India’s tour of Australia comprises three T20Is, fours Tests and three ODIs. The bilateral series kicks-off with T20Is from November 21.
Courtesy/Source: India Today
