NEW DELHI (AFP) - Legendary India all-rounder Kapil Dev has blasted his country's beleaguered cricket board for "insulting" the national team and players.
With the Supreme Court set to resume hearings into the Board of Control for Cricket in India's tangled affairs on Wednesday, the former India captain hit out at new chairman-elect Ranbir Singh Mahendra.
The BCCI chief argued last week that Indian Test and one-day teams play for the board and not the country.
"He's utterly and totally wrong... a disgrace," an outraged Kapil told AFP.
"It's an insult. Twenty years of service going down the drain."
Kapil, 45, retired a hero in 1994 with the then world record tally of 434 wickets in 131 Tests and 5,248 runs.
"We played for India. We played under the Indian flag," he said. "It's very emotional.
"I represented my country, not some board."
Mahendra's comments follow attempts by the board to extricate itself from a complex legal wrangle over multi-million dollar TV rights.
The status of the board -- independent or state-influenced -- is crucial to the argument. BCCI lawyers are pleading the board is totally independent and the team not a national side.
Kapil bemoaned the knock-on effect the wrangling has on the sport in a country where cricket is king, describing it as a "very, very shallow and low situation."
"You really feel sorry with a president like that... no wonder we are poor administrators," he added.
Kapil suggested someone of the stature of Sunil Gavaskar "with a feeling for the game", should be put in charge of the board.
The BCCI is mired in a series of cases, including a dispute over Mahendra's own election on September 29 which is due to be heard in court from Wednesday.
10/27/2004 - 10:53 GMT - AFP