ICL games can be stage-managed bouts: Bindra

The rest of Bindra’s letter, however, is a rebuttal of some of the charges that former India captain and ICL’s executive board head Kapil Dev had levelled against the Board over the last two weeks.

Referring to Kapil’s allegation that no one from the Board told him why he was being removed as National Cricket Academy (NCA) chairman, Bindra claims that both he and BCCI president Sharad Pawar had met the 1983 World Cup star last month before he was sacked.

“Let him touch his heart and admit what had been discussed when he met the Board president (Sharad Pawar) on July 16 and then me, a couple of days before the ICL launch. Both Mr Sharad Pawar and I have made it clear to him that his position as chairman of the National Cricket Academy would be untenable once he had made up his mind to take up the ICL directorship. He had even been told about the Working Committee resolution to the effect,” claims Bindra.

Asked about Bindra’s letter, Kapil told The Indian Express: “Who is Bindra? Has he ever played cricket for India? I would have reacted to his letter if he has ever played for India. Otherwise, it’s not worth talking about.”

Dismissing Kapil’s claim that ICL will work for the good of cricket, Bindra writes, “One look at the fine print of the contracts handed over to the players reveals the ICL’s hidden agenda and the damage it will cause to international cricket¿ By its very nature, ICL can’t be a vehicle for promotion of the game at grassroots level. Contract clauses and involvement of IL&FS makes it abundantly clear that continuance of business is dependant on its capacity to make money. I am afraid Kapil may be forced to abandon midstream players and officials whose hand he is claiming to be holding today.”

Demanding to know why Kapil had kept silent over the last decade, when he held various positions within the BCCI, Bindra asked the original Chandigarh superstar to look within, first. “Kapil’s own friends have asked him two uncomfortable questions for which he has no answer. One is whether the ICL would distribute its profits among the players or the shareholders and two, why Madan Lal’s son has not opted for the ICL, thereby hangs a tale. Kapil, stop tilting at the windmills.”

While former India coach Madan Lal has signed up as ICL coach, his son and left-arm pacer Kunal Lal plays for Delhi, under the BCCI.