"Disturbed" Kapil Dev gets reprieve

India's cricket chiefs shied away from sacking a reluctant Kapil Dev as national coach on Sunday, saying they wanted to speak to him before taking any action. Kapil had put his job on the line in an interview with AFP last week, in which he said the match-fixing charges and the "unprofessional" attitude of officials had put him off the game.

But he had left it to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to determine whether he should serve out the second part of his two-year term as national coach.

The BCCI, which was expected to take action against Kapil during its meeting here on Sunday, instead authorised president A.C. Muthiah to speak to the former star. "Kapil is obviously a very disturbed person at the moment, and the interview was an emotional outburst," Muthiah told reporters after the day-long meeting.

"He is normally a very confident person. I don't know what has gone wrong, but I intend to find out. "The board has authorised me to call on Kapil and speak to him. I have also been told to take whatever decision is deemed fit. I will be meeting Kapil shortly."

Kapil, who is at the centre of a federal investigation into corruption in cricket, suffered income tax raids on his offices and home last month as part of the probe. "If this is what I get for being a cricketer, I don't want to be part of it," an emotional Kapil had told AFP.

"I know I am clean, I have nothing to hide. The investigations will prove that. But I am finished with cricket. It's not worth it." Muthiah had said earlier that players being investigated, like Kapil, former captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, would not be punished unless they were found guilty by federal authorities. But the BCCI is under pressure from sports minister Sukhdev Dhindsa, who wants the tainted players to step down on moral grounds.

Mail Cricket Editor