Former India captain and coach Kapil Dev jumped to the defence of Mohammad Azharuddin doing commentary on the current Asia Cup tournament in Sri Lanka, saying if the ICC has the right to earn money through the game so does the former India captain, who has been banned for life for his alleged role in the match-fixing episode.
His comments come in the wake of the International Cricket Council objecting to Azharuddin providing expert comments for a television channel.
Speaking to rediff.com in Delhi on Monday, Kapil said he is personally in favour Azharuddin's ban being lifted.
"I personally feel that nobody ever should be banned. The issue of Azharuddin has been dragged on for almost four years now and it is time that this ban is lifted. This is my personal opinion. I feel the ICC and BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] should sort out this matter as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, ICC president Ehsan Mani refused to discuss the subject.
"I have nothing more to add than what we had said on Sunday on this matter during our press conference," Mani told media persons when asked if he approved of the fact that Azharuddin had been given accreditation to cover the Asia Cup for Aaj Tak by the BCCI.
BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya however denied that accreditation had been given to Azhar.
"No, we have not given him any accreditation whatsoever. He has not gone through us. He is representing some media organization and the Sri Lankan Board has given him accreditation to cover the matches for the organization with which he has signed a contract," Dalmiya told rediff.com.
Asked if he agrees with Kapil that the time has come for the BCCI and ICC to sit down and resolve the issue about the ban, Dalmiya took shelter behind the stock answer that Azharuddin has approached the court and hence he is in no position to answer questions relating to his case.
Asked about the cricket Oscars, Kapil said he "would have wished" that such awards started on the day when competitive cricket began. "But to institute awards you need to invest money.
"Now the game is popular and sponsors are coming forward to sponsor such awards. These awards will help individual players and teams to strive for the better and excel in the game of cricket," he said.
