Players under a cloud must quit: Dhindsa

NEW DELHI, JUNE 16. The Union Sports Minister, Mr. S. S. Dhindsa, today said all current Indian cricketers including Mohammed Azharuddin and team coach Kapil Dev should stay out of the national team until cleared of match-fixing allegations.

``My advice was not only to Azharuddin, it was to all the players against whom match-fixing allegations have been levelled,'' Mr. Dhindsa said.

Asked whether Kapil Dev should also step down, Mr. Dhindsa said, ``the advice to step down is to all the players and officials associated with cricket against whom such accusations have been made. We hope the allegations are not true but coming from a player like Cronje, who has captained his national side and also has taken the blame on himself, they need serious consideration.'' Asked about Azharuddin's claim that he was being victimised because he belonged to the minority community, Mr. Dhindsa said, ``this kind of statement will prove disadvantageous to him. No law in this country deals with a crime keeping in mind the religion of the accused, nor does it show leniency to anyone.''

`A vilification campaign'

Indian Test cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin has planned to sue Hansie Cronje and his former teammates Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Manoj Prabhakar accusing them of having ganged up to ``frame'' him.

In an interview to the daily Deccan Chronicle here, Azhar rejected Mr. Dhindsa's suggestion that he step down until cleared of all charges.

Accusing Cronje of being ``racist'', the former Indian skipper said ``because our police taped him, the South Africans have conspired to fix the blame on Indians''. Turning homeward, Azhar said ``mainly because I belong to the minority community, I am being victimised and targeted, especially by some former cricketers who have a personal grudge against me.''

He said it was evident from the videotaped conversation that Shastri, Prabhakar, Gavaskar and a journalist ``were plotting against me. They have ganged up to frame me''. Claiming that the entire exercise was ``just a vilification campaign'', Azhar said he planned to ``sue all of them'' - Cronje, Shastri, Prabhakar, Gavaskar, the website that produced the Prabhakar tapes and fast- food company Mcdonald's (for putting up a hoarding `Azhar Ne Pucca Khaya'). ``I have hired none other than Ram Jethmalani to represent me,'' he said.

Azhar said he had already filed a case against (former Income Tax Commissioner) Mr. Vishwa Bandhu Gupta for stating that he (Azharuddin) was the one who declared Rs. 16 crore under the VDIS scheme.

- PTI

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