Sena mouthpiece slams Pawar, BCCI

Mumbai: Taking a swipe at the Cricket Board for the stand off between the BCCI and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, the Shiv Sena today accused the former of high handedness and said those who have never held a bat in their hands were trying to teach the game to cricket veterans.

The Sena mouthpiece Samana, in an editorial, said people like BCCI President Sharad Pawar, Niranjan Shah (Secretary) and Rajiv Shukla (Vice-President) do not know the shape of a cricket ball and yet tell what cricket is all about to Vengsarkar, who played over 100 Tests.

"We ask this question to Sharad Pawar, Niranjan Shah and Rajiv Shukla whether you have ever held a bat in your hand, whether you know a cricket ball is round or square or whether cricket is played on land or water?

"Yet you have the temerity to tell what cricket is to a great player like Vengsarkar. Money power has turned cricket into a gambling and betting game," the editorial said.

The editoral said the Cricket Board, which till recently was saying that Vengsarkar was free to tender his resignation, has now softened its stand.

The Board has indicated it would review the points raised by Vengsarkar and also to take a "positive" approach to compensate him for the loss which he is likely to suffer in view of the ban on him to write his media columns, it said.

However, the change in stand against Vengsarkar came on Pawar's intitiative much to the embarrassment of Shukla who has vociferously been saying the Board will not soften its stand against the ex-India captain, the editorial said, adding anyway it was better late than never.