Bishan Singh Bedi seeks Arvind Kejriwal's help to clean Delhi cricket

Not just the corrupt political system, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal could be seen cleaning up Delhi cricket soon, if reports are to be believed. Former India skipper and legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi, who is contesting the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) presidential polls, is aiming to ride the anti-corruption mood in the city started by Kejriwal and his party.

Bedi called on Kejriwal, who is Delhi's chief minister-in-waiting, on Wednesday. "Kejriwal is aware of what is going on in DDCA. But before we seek his help, we have to make a sincere effort ourselves to clean the association," Bedi was quoted as saying by the Times of India on Thursday morning.

The 67-year-old former left-arm spinner Bedi is determined to fight against corruption and says it is the right time to take on the DDCA regime. The elections are scheduled to be held on December 30.

"We are seeing corruption in DDCA for a very long time. We can't sit back hopelessly and do nothing about it. There are things like proxy voting and company law blunders, which has damaged the state association. There are DDCA officials who are willing to pay the fine and get out of the association. But we are going to fight against them. I had to stick my neck out for cricket and cricketers," Bedi said.

Bedi is up against Sneh Bansal, a close aid of outgoing DDCA president Arun Jaitley, who decided not to contest the polls on Sunday.

BJP heavyweight Jaitley, who is also the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, relinquished his post of BCCI vice-president earlier this year due to his busy political commitments. It is believed that the busy political calender led to Jaitley deciding against contesting the elections.

Jaitley has however filed his nominations for an executive committee membership which won't require much of his time but will keep him associated with the game.

But according to reliable sources in DDCA, Jaitley's "blessings and good wishes" are with Bansal, who enjoys the support of voters as Bedi might find it difficult to pull it off in his favour.

Former India all-rounder Madan Lal will be fighting for the sports secretary's post against current incumbent Sunil Dev while another former India wicketkeeper Surinder Khanna will take on current joint secretary Anil Khanna and Chetan Chauhan, who has also filed nominations for the vice-president's post.