Clearly disgusted about current happenings off the cricket field, former Test all rounder Bapu Nadkarni backed suggestions by ex-BCCI chief Shashank Manohar and ousted IPL chairman Lalit Modi that the controversial and cash-awash T20 League should be stopped, at least for a while.
"What is happening is not good. The cricketers are bound to be affected by all these. They have to close IPL for some time. Who is going to run it ?" Nadkarni told PTI when asked to respond to the recent developments.
However, another former cricketer and ex-India captain Ajit Wadekar wanted the T20 league to continue though the Supreme Court has suggested that Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals be suspended from the tournament till pendency of the case of betting and spot fixing scandal before it.
Backing his one-time nemesis Manohar over his scathing views that the cash-rich IPL has lost some of its credibility, its former Chairman Modi has stated that the upcoming season of the tournament needs to be suspended to clean up the game.
"I completely agree with Mr Shashank Manohar and his observations on the fact that the serious allegations regarding betting, spot-fixing and match-fixing are (sic) all seriously tarnished the image of the game and importantly, the fans and the public at large are slowly but surely starting to lose faith in the Indian Premier League in particular and game at large," said London-based Modi.
"Given the above context and the current goings-on, I think it only right that until the faith of the people in the integrity of the game is restored, the IPL tournament for the year 2014 should be suspended.
