Raipur, Sept. 25: India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev on Friday said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) needed to act fast against the match-fixing scandals involving the Pakistan team in the interest of the game.
“The ICC must act fast against the match-fixing scandals which are bringing disrepute to the gentleman’s game,” said the former all-rounder, who was here to attend a programme.
“The cricket body should give exemplary punishment to the players involved in such shameful activities to ensure that they do not recur in future,” added the former India captain.
Expressing anguish over the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked cricket during the just concluded English-Pakistan series, he said, “I do not know what the ICC would do, but whatever they should stop the game game from being degenerated. “It is up to the ICC and the individual boards to make sure that they should do something about this issue right now. Such scandals are not only bringing bad name to the game but also dismaying millions of cricket fans world over,” he said. He was also of a firm view that youngsters, involved in fixing scandals, often emulated seniors in the team. “I would say sometimes the senior players are more responsible than anything else. I can’t believe that a youngster can indulge in such activities without the seniors’ consent or them being aware. If the seniors have good ethics, young players always pick them up,” he said.