Richards slams ICC, says one rule for Windies, another for India

'The Indians do not play certain things the ICC may have in its rules. They totally ignore that and they have been getting away with it for years.'

The legendary Viv Richards lashed out at the ICC for its official reprimand of World T20 champions the West Indies, saying it has one rule for the Darren Sammy-led outfit and another for the Indian cricket team.

Leading Caribbean players, like T20 captain Darren Sammy, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels came down heavily on the West Indies Cricket Board for its functioning following the team's triumph in the ICC World T20 earlier this month.

Riding on Carlos Brathwaite's magical finish, the West Indies created history by becoming the first nation to win the ICC's showpiece Twenty20 tournament twice with a dramatic four-wicket victory over England in the final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

At its Board meeting in Dubai recently, the ICC came out with a statement that the West Indies players were "inappropriate, disrespectful and brought the event into disrepute".

The reprimand did not go down well with Richards, one of the country’s biggest cricketing icons.

"There are rules in the One-day game under the auspices of the ICC, like for instance the system where you go back to the third umpire and things like that," he told the Jamaican Observer newspaper.

"So, if you are the sole governing body of world cricket, then everyone should be coming under the same umbrella. The Indians do not play certain things the ICC may have in its rules. They totally ignore that and they have been getting away with it for years," Richards said, indicating that India get away because of their clout in the governing body.

An angry Richards added: "I am only trying to hit back because of what they are trying to do because of Sammy's comments. They are trying to be a body that if you say this, it's out of order, then you're going to be this and you're going to be that.

"When you look around the world in terms of the governance of the ICC, there are rules for some and not others," he said.