'Gavaskar is a man known for playing with a straight bat'

Former Test stalwarts Chandu Borde, Ajit Wadekar and Kiran More hailed Friday’s Supreme Court order to appoint Sunil Gavaskar interim president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for IPL-related affairs.

"This is a very good thing that the Supreme Court has done. It's a great opportunity to the cricketers, as cricket would be given priority in IPL, whose image has taken quite a beating because of the allegations of betting, match-fixing etc," said Borde from Pune.

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"Gavaskar is a man known for playing with a straight bat. There will be a lot of transparency under his guidance. He is known to have his own mind and I don't think anyone would dare to indulge in corrupt practices with him at the helm," said the 79-year-old Borde.

"In the past, cricket and cricketers were pushed to the background in IPL with dancing girls (cheerleaders) being given more importance. This will not happen now," he added.

Borde also felt happy that another ex-cricketer, Yadav, who has got a lot of experience as an administrator connected to running the Hyderabad Cricket Association, has been named president in charge of BCCI's functions barring IPL-related activities.

"I also welcome the appointment of Shivlal Yadav to be the man in-charge of overall Board administration other than IPL. He has got experience in cricket administration. It's a challenge for these former cricketers, but I am sure they will emerge with flying colours," said Borde.

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Wadekar, under whom Gavaskar made a sensational debut in the historic 1971 Test series in the West Indies, also said it would be good to see a top cricketer at the helm of the Board's affairs.

"Glad that a legend like Gavaskar has been given the charge of the BCCI. Really good to see cricketers at the helm, including Shivlal Yadav. Good that he (Gavaskar) will also not lose his remuneration as commentator," he said, referring to the Supreme Court's order that BCCI compensate Gavaskar for getting freed of his contractual obligations to it while performing the job as president in charge of IPL.

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Wadekar said that the big challenge before Gavaskar and Yadav is in restoring the faith of the fans in the game.

"The big challenge before them is to restore confidence of fans in the game which has taken a beating. If some poor chap gets bowled people will look at him with suspicion and not credit the bowler! Restoring the credibility of the game is going to be a major challenge for them," said 72-year-old Wadekar.

Former chief selector More said he always maintained that players who have done very well should be part of the administration set-up.

"It is good. He (Gavaskar) was a player, so he knows what are the problems faced by the cricketers. He was also part of the IPL governing council so he would know about the workings of it. He was the ICC Chairman (cricket committee), so he shouldn't find the role of the president difficult.

"There are lot of issues, but the most important thing for me is cricket should go on."