By IANS
Mumbai : Former India captain Kapil Dev Tuesday asserted that he was not doing anything ethically wrong by joining the rebel Indian Cricket League and was “expecting” his retaliatory sacking as chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dismissed Kapil for leading a player exodus to Zee group’s breakaway ICL at a board special general body meeting here and replaced by NCA vice-chairman Ajay Shirke. A new appointment will be made at the annual general meeting Sept 28.
Kapil said he was expecting the decision.
“I was expecting this. I was only waiting for – should I resign, or, will they sack me,” said India’s lone World Cup-winning captain.
“Ethically, I was not doing any wrong. I was helping young cricketers (to play for ICL, which is not approved by the BCCI),” he said.
Kapil is the chairman of the ICL executive board and has been instrumental in making the 51 players, including six from abroad, sign for the Subhash Chandra-promoted Twenty20 tournament to be held in October-November.
After Kapil’s aligning with ICL his dismissal from the top NCA post was always on the cards, but the BCCI, as is its wont, dithered on taking a decision.
The board first wrote a letter to Kapil and he wrote back asking for further explanation, in a waiting game played out by both parties.
After much dillydallying, the matter came to a head when the ICL announced that it has signed 44 Indian players, mostly youngsters, and paraded them at a press conference here Monday.
At its the special general body meeting, the BCCI took the decision to relieve Kapil of his duty and also announced that the players who have signed for the ICL would not get the usual benefits from it.
“What is their objection? Their objection is to producing better cricketers? If they (officials) are for themselves (and not for players), (only then) they can stop sportsmen (from playing for ICL),” said Kapil.
“I was hoping they (BCCI) would have a chat with me,” he stated, saying that no one from the board called him to have a face-to-face talk before the decision.