Mumbai: Without taking any names, former Indian captain Kapil Dev has hit out at the current system in which he along with many former players have been served with Conflict of Interest notices by the BCCI ethics officer in the last few months.
The Free Press Journal sought the legend’s take on how he feels when he and other batting greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are served notices over Conflict of Interest allegations.
Kapil retorted by saying, “Kya hai yeh Conflict of Interest (what is Conflict of Interest)... conflict woh hota hai agar koi permanent job ho, agar aap ko ek meeting ke liye bulate hai, toh aapka conflict nahi hai.. (it is a conflict if you have a permanet job, if you are called for a meeting then it does not amount to conflict).”
Kapil Dev, who resigned from the CAC after allegations, said that performing a role in honorary capacity cannot be conflicted with a professional cricketing job.
Agar aap payroll pe ho, toh conflict hai (if you are on a payroll, then it is a conflict), agar aap koi honorary job aake karte ho, for one meeting, that can't be conflict (if you do an honorary job for one meeting that cannot be conflict...)," Kapil told reporters after launching an app 'VAOO', in which he has invested money.
The three-members of the Kapil-led Cricket Advisory Committe (CAC), which picked the current men's coach Ravi Shastri, were served a notice by the BCCI ethics officer to respond to the conflict of interest claim made by MPCA life member Sanjiv Gupta.
The other two CAC members, Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad, also resigned after getting the notice.
Kapil also took an indirect dig at people who were filing complaints and dubbed them "negative".
“I seriously don't know but the persons handing out these notices should be asked this question. I think some people have a very negative mindset in their lives.
They don't attempt to do any positive work. They just have a negative mindset. That's all. So I wish them well and hope for the best for them.”
