Gautam Gambhir hits out at cricket administrators over Azhar's ringing of Eden bell
Kolkata, Nov 5 (IBNS): Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has hit out at the cricketer administrators of all levels over an incident where former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was seen ringing the bell at the Eden Gardens to commence the India-Windies first T20I match on Sunday.
Gambhir took to social media to slam the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Committee of Administrators (CoA) and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for letting Azharuddin, who was earlier embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, to ring the bell.
The 37-year old left-handed batsman said in a tweet, "India may have won today at Eden but I am sorry @bcci, CoA &CAB lost. Looks like the No Tolerance Policy against Corrupt takes a leave on Sundays! I know he was allowed to contest HCA polls but then this is shocking....The bell is ringing, hope the powers that be are listening."
India may have won today at Eden but I am sorry @bcci, CoA &CAB lost. Looks like the No Tolerance Policy against Corrupt takes a leave on Sundays! I know he was allowed to contest HCA polls but then this is shocking....The bell is ringing, hope the powers that be are listening. pic.twitter.com/0HKbp2Bs9r
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) November 4, 2018
The bell ringing ritual, which is a common practice at Lord's in England, has been introduced by former Indian cricket captain and present CAB president Sourav Ganguly during the India-New Zealand Test match in 2016.
Any cricketer or administrator or someone related to cricket rings the bell to commence the sporting action at the iconic cricket ground in Kolkata.
Azharuddin was accused in a match-fixing scandal which rocked the Indian cricket in 2000. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI had banned the former skipper from the sport for life.
However, a divisionioal bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court revoked the ban in 2012.
Image: twitter.com/GautamGambhir
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