Out of favour India opener Gautam Gambhir doesn’t feel IPL’s reputation has got a beating because of the spot-fixing and betting scandal, saying a “handful of wrong individuals doesn’t carry the image of the entire sport”.
“A handful of people who do something wrong doesn’t carry the image of the entire sport. There are still millions of people who wants to go out there and play the game and represent the country,” said Gambhir, who is also the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders.
“If some handful of people do something wrong that doesn’t mean cricket is dirty. There are lot of people who wants to do well,” he said.
For Gambhir, IPL is a serious business but feels steps like banning cheerleaders from the tournament is not the solution to erradicate corruption from the event. “For me everything depends on individual. You can’t stop an individual from doing something wrong. It has to come from within,” he told a news channel.
“IPL is a serious competition and not what you do off the field. When I joined KKR, my only thinking was to see the team do well on the field. But if a handful of people thing IPL is more to do with off-field activities, it’s the wrong way of approaching IPL. There are a handful of people who think that and you can’t control them. The only way out is not to make them part of IPL,” the left-hander added.
Asked how difficult it will be to return to the Indian team considering the good showing of the opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma in the Champions Trophy, Gambhir said, “For any sportsperson, it’s not about how difficult to make a comeback. It’s about going out there and keep scoring runs because as a batsmen that’s what you play cricket for and that’s what give you maximum happiness.”
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Pakistan hopes fade after loss to South Africa
Birmingham, June 11: Chris Morris took two wickets on his one-day international debut and Ryan McLaren a career-best four for 19 as South Africa returned to winning ways in the Champions Trophy with a 67-run success over Pakistan at Edgbaston on Monday.
Pakistan, set 235 to win, finished on 167 all out as South Africa made light of the absence of premier fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in winning with five overs to spare.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who top-scored for his side with 55, lamented the team's batting. — AFP