Imran should take over Pak cricket: Kapil

Kolkata, 2 Sep: Former skipper Imran Khan should take over the Pakistan cricket team to save it from the crisis arising out of the "spot-fixing" scandal, India's World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev said today.

Describing the 1992 World Cup-winning Pakistan captain the "cleanest" cricketer in the nation mired in fixing scandal, Kapil said, "In this time of crisis, I can think of Imran Khan as the cleanest cricketer to look after Pakistan cricket. He can really put the nation out of this controversy."

Kapil added that he felt sorry for Pakistan cricket.

"I really feel sorry for Pakistan cricket and cricketers. Nothing is going right for them at the moment. We don't want Pakistan cricket to die. They have produced some wonderful cricketers over the years," he said.

Asked whether the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir should be banned if they were found guilty, the former all-rounder merely said the guilty should be punished.

"We should not pre-judge them. Let the right people investigate the matter. The guilty should be punished," said the 51-year-old who was here to inaugurate the Tea Board of India Chess for Youth tournament.

The former India captain urged not to place bets on cricket.

"Never bet on cricket. Let's talk about the positive sides of the game. There are just a two to three percent involved in betting so we should not talk about them. We must talk about the remaining 98 percent who are doing so much for the betterment of the game."

Appealing to the ICC to bring an end to betting, Kapil said, "This game is really beautiful and very close to all of us, so let's not spoil it."


(PTI)