Excepts:
Cricket lately seems to be in the news for the wrong reasons... Pradeep Sangwan tested positive for doping. Your reactions...
The only thing I can say is, he's not being sensible. The game is helping you earn a living and making you a hero in the eyes of others. If you can't look after yourself, it is unfortunate. Yes, there are always temptations, but I don't know how far they can help. Also, in 50 years of cricket, if one person turns out to be bad, it doesn't mean that's the only thing we want to talk about. It's not right. This game has given us superheroes. You could give the examples of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Anil Kumble. If a young boy has to understand cricket, he should look at a better sportsman.
Prior to that, betting and spot-fixing marred the game. What could be the reason for such incidents? Is it money alone?
Well, where there's so much money, there is always laalach! Sometimes, when too much money is involved, people look for an easy way out. Competition is increasing. Pressure is increasing. And people make mistakes. But some, like us, have a responsibility guiding them. About match-fixing and spot-fixing today, the heroes of the game have a role to play - to guide the younger lot in the right direction.
BCCI too has been mired in controversy. Who do you think could do justice to the post of its President?
I think all the members will have to put their heads together. It's like parliament. Good people will get you good results. There are about 30-odd members. Every member will have to take his own responsibility. But, on the positive side, look what the Board has done. I don't have a great relation with the Board, but even I respect them. They made this game popular, they look after the cricketers.
There has been a growing demand to bring BCCI under the Ministry of Sports and the RTI. Do you think it's a good idea?
I can't judge. I am not too intelligent. But I think the cricket board has done fairly well on its own as compared to other sports in the country. But having said that, I'll also say that there should be more transparency in the Board.
Reports say that BCCI is gagging players. Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara have been cautioned for giving interviews...
The player should be smart enough to understand what to say and what not to say. It's not an individual game. It is a team game. You might want to say something, but you could be offending your colleagues. So, I think everybody shouldn't be allowed to talk to the media. The captain, manager and other people are there to do all this.
The Decision Review System (DRS) is also something not many are happy with. What is the alternative?
Look, if technology can help this game, there's nothing wrong in it. If five decisions came wrong because of technology, look at how many decisions go wrong without it!
IPL became a huge success, but when you teamed up for ICL you faced a boycott...
I still maintain that if tomorrow any company comes up to me and says come and work with us for cricket, I will do it. I don't have to ask anybody if I can do it or not. It is up to BCCI to see that how they want to run it. But they can't stop us until and unless we have a contract with BCCI. And we don't have a contract. So when a channel invited us to promote the game, we did our best. But it was the Board's policy that they chose to boycott us and it's fine. I just worked for cricket in my country and given the chance, I will do it again.
A lot of cricketers are getting into business while still playing for the country. MS Dhoni was accused of having conflict of interest. Is there no clear cut guideline for cricketers to follow? Or do you think it is unfair to curb their personal interests?
I think it's difficult. What you think is right might be wrong to me. There are no specific guidelines from BCCI either. So, unless there is a definite line stating that you cannot do this or that, I think it's up to the individual to decide what he should or shouldn't do. Beyond that, the Board will have to take a call.
Does a tainted player like Sreesanth have any hope of making a comeback?
I think you have to be ruthless so that the boys cannot do such a thing. If Sreesanth has done something as stupid as that, the repercussions for it are well known around the world. Look at what happened to those cricketers from Pakistan... If you can't learn from other people's mistakes, you should be punished.
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