Kolkata: Cricketing legend Kapil Dev on Saturday came out strongly in favour of a single players' association in the country to look after the interests of Test cricketers as also those at the grass root level.

"What is the need to have two associations when both had the same objective, the welfare of cricketers. One should merge with the other," the former Indian skipper told reporters. Kapil's comments were significant in the light of the controversy generated over the recent formation of the Indian Cricket Players' Association (ICPA) with reported efforts in some quarters to revive the defunct Association of Indian Cricketers (AIC) founded in 1989, as a rival body. Kapil, who was the president of AIC, said that it started off well, but fizzled out after some time as the board agreed to all its demands. Asked about questions raised by former Test cricketer Ashok Malhotra on the ICPA's representative character, and on the funds the AIC had, Kapil said, "Though I was president of AIC, I don't know the details. But I will enquire into this." Kapil echoed BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya saying that any players' association should include the entire spectrum of cricketers in the country. "It must include not only Test players, but even those playing cricket on the streets. It should function in such a manner that no cricketer has any complaint against it." Kapil said that disputes should be ironed out across the table. "It is always better to sit together and work together." The ICPA was launched on October 29 with Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi as president and Arun Lal as secretary. It organised its first programme in the city two days later holding a gala charity dinner in a five star hotel.
Extras:
'We can dream little more of winning World Cup'

Subscribe to Newsletter

Tags: cricket, kolkata, kapil dev, test cricketers, india, indian cricket players' association, icpa, association of indian cricketers, aic, ashok malhotra, bcci president jagmohan dalmiya, mansoor ali khan pataudi, arun lal.

E-mail         To the Editor         Print

Post, View comments

User Comments

[ Post Comments ]

   [ Read All Comments ]

Be the first to comment this article.

Report Abuse Please select the reason that best describes your complaint. Post is... Irrelevant Pornographic Spam Using abusive language Using copyrighted material Libelous Enter the code in the box as it is shown below   Security Code : Are you sure that this is an abusive message? Falsely reporting abuse may lead to revocation of your reporting rights