New Delhi: Former India skipper and spin-bowling legend Bishan Singh Bedi has asked for the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) to remove his name from the stand at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium and former DDCA cricket committee head Madan Lal has backed the legend.
Bedi has said that he has always believed in standing by what is right and at this point in time he has come to understand that getting his name removed from the stands at Kotla is the right thing to do.
“I do not have to speak much, you have to speak to the DDCA. If they are adamant about getting the statue (of late DDCA president Arun Jaitley), then okay, I do not want my name to be associated with the stadium. Nothing wrong with that,” he told ANI.
“Nobody is bothered in Delhi. DDCA is getting away with murder. I think this was the final nail in the coffin and I will not budge. I do not see the need to.”
Echoing the sentiments, Lal said: “I am with Bishan Singh Bedi in this matter, because whatever is happening in DDCA is not good. It’s a cricket club and only cricket-related issues should be talked about there. There are so many issues and on which Bedi Ji has taken a stand, I will back him,” Lal told ANI.
“Corruption should not be there, money is for players and for improvement of Delhi cricket. First of all, they should talk about cricket. It’s a really big message conveyed by Bedi in the letter and its not good for DDCA,” he added.
In his letter to the DDCA, Bedi pointed out how the association has been poorly managed, stating that he believes there is no place for him or his legacy at the Kotla.
“It is WG Grace at Lord’s, Sir Jack Hobbs at the Oval, Sir Donald Bradman at the SCG, Sir Garfield Sobers at Barbados & Shane Warne of recent vintage at the MCG who adorn their cricket stadia with the Spirit of Cricket never out of place. So, when the kids walk into these stadiums these majestic statues/busts enhance and enliven the inspiring stories of these past heroes that their elders tell them. Sporting arenas need sporting role models. The place of the administrators is in their glass cabins,” he wrote.
“Since DDCA does not understand this universal cricket culture, I need to walk out of it. I cannot be part of a stadium that has got its priorities so grossly wrong and where administrators get precedence over the cricketers. Please bring down my name from the stand with immediate effect. You need not worry about me or my legacy. God Almighty has been very kind to me to keep me alive with my cricketing convictions. I do not wish my strength of character to be maligned by my silence or association to this unsporting act,” he wrote.
