Former India captain Bishan Bedi has rubbished Muttiah Muralitharan's demand for monetary damages for suggesting the Sri Lankan off-spinner was a cheat, reports said on Thursday.
NEW DELHI: Former India captain Bishan Bedi has rubbished Muttiah Muralitharan's demand for monetary damages for suggesting the Sri Lankan off-spinner was a cheat, reports said on Thursday.
"I am a free man and I have a right to express my opinion," Bedi, 60, was quoted as saying by the Times of India. "I haven't said anything new. Everyone knows for years my views on the matter."
Bedi, a classical left-arm spinner who took 266 wickets in 67 Tests before retiring in 1979, said last week that Muralitharan's unusual bowling action made him "the best shot-putter in the history of cricket."
"The most worrying thing is that young boys are trying to emulate him. So the ICC (International Cricket Council) have ended up creating a monster with all their technological nonsense to help him continue," he said.
Muralitharan's manager Kushil Gunasekera said on Wednesday that his lawyers had written a letter to Bedi, demanding approximately 6.7 million dollars as damages for what he said were "derogatory" remarks.
Gunasekera said lawyers gave Bedi 14 days to respond and will later decide whether to file court action against him.
The outspoken Bedi told the Times of India that the ICC should take the blame for letting Muralitharan bowl with a bent arm, which the bowler attributes to a deformity.
"It's not poor Murali's fault. My grouse is against the ICC, which may yet rue this decision, the paper quoted him saying.
"Cricket has been a part of my existence for as long as I can remember and I can't bear to see the spirit of the game being flouted.
"Murali's success has prompted kids from Sri Lanka to Maharashtra to Gujarat to emulate his action. Can that be a good thing for cricket?"
Muralitharan, 35, is just nine wickets away from surpassing retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne's world-record tally of 708.
He hopes to accomplish the feat when Sri Lanka play two Tests in Australia in November or during the home series against England in December.
Muralitharan's glittering 113-match career has been marred by controversy over his bowling action since Australian umpire Darrell Hair no-balled him for throwing in 1995.
He was no-balled again in Australia in 1998 even though his action was cleared by an Australian bio-mechanics expert. The ICC has also absolved him of any wrongdoing.
Muralitharan has taken 700 Test and 455 one-day wickets.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}