The Indian Cricket League today hit back at the Cricket Board for threatening
to impose a life ban on players aligining with the rebel body, saying the BCCI
was a private organisation and had no right to issue such directions.
A day after BCCI made it clear that players taking part in the breakaway league
would be banned for life from playing for India, the ICL bosses reacted
strongly to the "unfair" stand taken by the game's governing body and
said it would not dissuade them from going ahead with the venture.
"BCCI is nobody to give such a direction. It is a private body. The ICL
will be a reality and the people will come to watch the matches", Essel
Group Chairman Subhash Chandra said.
The ICL, a brainchild of the Essel Group, also said the hard stand taken by
the BCCI was "very shallow" and would only "scare" the players.
Kapil Dev, Chairman of the ICL's Executive Board, also launched a scathing
attack on the BCCI and took a dig at President Sharad Pawar by questioning
his commitment to cricket.
"He (Pawar) is a very senior politician. He is spending time looking after
an important Ministry and country but does he have the time for cricket ? I
can also say about him what he said about me," Kapil said.
"I am disappointed. They are trying to scare players when people of the
country want to play cricket. It is not fair for the BCCI Secretary (Niranjan
Shah) to say like that," he said.
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