India's legends deserve more than to party alone
"The cricketers who won India's first World Cup in 1983 should be lauded not ignored by the BCCI," writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian blog .
Over the past few months, Kapil, Madan Lal (who dismissed Viv Richards in the final) and Balwinder Sandhu (that inswinger to Gordon Greenidge) have been treated like the untouchables were in the pre-Gandhi days because of their involvement in the Indian Cricket League, the so-called rebel league. The ICL was the first to come up with the idea of city-based franchises, but is now in danger of being run out of town by the infinitely more powerful and rich IPL. By taking on the BCCI, whose attitude to cricket seems to be little different from that of the mafia to a protection racket, all those involved with the ICL have become pariahs. Sadly, that includes talented young players who might otherwise have thrived in the IPL.
Sriram Veera is a former staff writer at ESPNcricinfo