Pawar says ugly situation would not have arisen if he was BCCI president

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the ugly situation arising out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scam would not have taken place had he been the BCCI president.

Expressing his deep sense of hurt and sadness over the prevailing scenario, Pawar questioned the need for a probe panel and backed former BCCI president Shashank Manohar's demand for a probe of all IPL 6 matches.

Squarely blaming incumbent BCCI chief N.Srinivasan for the current mess in Indian cricket, he also said the entire spot-fixing episode should be referred to the Union Home Ministry.

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Earlier, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja said the government should talk of strong laws to regulate these bodies.

Raja said: "I do not know why sports ministry is afraid of BCCI and the IPL. Now, it is the time that government takes strong measures against BCCI and IPL and makes them accountable to some authority, whether sports ministry claims it is having the authority to control BCCI and the IPL. BCCI and IPL are accountable to sports ministry. They are not accountable to sports ministry, they are not accountable to finance ministry, they are not accountable to any government, what is happening in this country? BCCI and the IPL, they think they are above everybody, above law and government should talk of strong laws to regulate these bodies."

Srinivasan remains defiant and has refused to quit.

He reiterated that the BCCI probe panel will remain independent.

"I will not reply to individual member reactions. I will remain away from the commission. What Rajeev Shukla has said, I said in Kolkata - it will remain an independent commission. I have nothing to do with the commission and it is independent," he said.

Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad said: "They (BCCI) has become a joke of the century, laughing stock of the century and its turned out to be as it seems like. I will not say anything, although I would want somebody to take me to court on this issue. I am going to file a PIL also on this issue. Very soon, I am gathering some cricketers and I will file a PIL also against them. All I can say is that this is one of the most corrupt associations in the world.