Attending meeting in honorary capacity not conflict: Kapil Dev
MUMBAI: Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev on Thursday hit out at the conflict of interest charges aimed at former cricketers, stating that generalising everything under the same category is perhaps not the right way to help Indian cricket grow.
Dev had recently resigned from the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) after allegations of conflict of interest were levelled against him and the other two members—Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad.
The panel of the three former cricketers picked Ravi Shastri for his second term as the head coach of the Indian men’s national team.
On being asked here at a promotional event, if constantly being under the scanner might deter cricketers in future to come back and be associated with the sport, the 1983 World Cup winning captain said: “Why don’t you ask the persons sending the notices? There are a few people who always tend to be negative with everything. They can’t see anything positive. Good luck to them! Whatever is best for cricket, one should do that. The issue of conflict arises when there’s a permanent job. If you are called in for just a meeting, that isn’t conflict. Yes, if you are on a payroll, it’s conflict. If you’re just doing an honorary job, that can’t be conflict.”
BCCI’S NOTICE
The BCCI’s ethics officer, Justice DK Jain, had sent a notice to Dev, asking him to respond to the allegation made by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association life member Sanjiv Gupta.
Dev, along with Rangaswamy and Gaekwad, have since resigned from their roles in the CAC. However, the decision taken by them to hand Shastri a second term hasn’t been affected.
OTHER INSTANCES
Batting greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were all served notice over allegations of conflict of interest.
Dev also hoped good things to happen with the Indian Cricketers’ Association finally coming into being. “Look, whatever is there, I hope it is good for cricket, that’s all. You and I want this (to happen),” he signed off.