One former captain lashes out at another

Gavaskar a 'destructive' influence - Bishan Bedi

Cricinfo staff

June 17, 2007

Bishan Bedi on Gavaskar: 'He's always liked power without accountability' © Getty Images

Bishan Singh Bedi, a former Indian captain, has delivered a scathing salvo against another, Sunil Gavaskar, in the wake of recent happenings in Indian cricket.

Bedi termed Gavaskar a "destructive" influence and felt he "always liked power without accountability". These comments come in the wake of Gavaskar criticising Dav Whatmore in one of his columns, despite being part of the committee that was to decide the next coach.

"Cricket circles had immense and blind respect for him [as a cricketer] and he successfully used this to ensure that board officials remained in awe of him," Bedi told Outlook, a weekly Indian magazine. "He wants the glamour, the position and if there are any financial gains so much the better ... but he does not want any accountability. He's always liked power without accountability."

Bedi was critical of Gavaskar's role at the National Cricket Academy, where he was the director from 2001 to 2006. "I had a lot of time for his batting but never as a thought leader," said Bedi. "You tell me what his contribution has been. He is destructive, there is nothing positive. I remember the time I was called by the then NCA director Brijesh Patel, along with Erapalli Prasanna and VV Kumar, to train spinners there. We did not hear at all from NCA chairman Gavaskar before, during or after the camp. I also recall his presiding over a captains and coaches meeting where he gave me the impression that he was not even listening.

"I can't forget the time he once told a team meeting 'The day I stop thinking of money, I will stagnate'."

Gavaskar has been embroiled in a few controversies in the last few years, one of them involving writing about how John Wright, India's former coach, was abused by the players only after Wright's term ended. More recently he suggested John Emburey as a candidate for the job of Indian coach despite the fact that his coaching credentials were less than impressive.

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