Jagmohan Dalmiya remains evasive on fixing scandal

Kolkata: Former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Wednesday remained evasive on the mounting demand for the resignation of Cricket Board chief N Srinivasan but also dismissed reports that he had advised him not to resign.

"Who am I to say this or that? I have nothing to do. Why will one listen to me?," he said in reply to a volley of questions on whether he would ask Srinivsan to quit in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the IPL. "This is a golden opportunity to clean cricket. Dirt in cricket has gone down deep and no one is bothered," he said about the current scandals surrounding Indian cricket. "Instead of asking Srinivasan to resign, clean cricket. If people are serious, they should use this opportunity and cricket can be cleaned," the CAB president said. Asked about the appointment of a three-member commission to go into the current allegations, he said it is "very very good". Replying to a question about media reports that he had backed Srinivasan after his Saturday dinner, Dalmiya said it is "nonsense" that I have asked him not to resign. "I am not defending anybody". "It makes me really allergic. I have not taken sides on Srinivasan resigning or anyone`s side. I have not spoken to anyone on the issue, not even Srinivasan. This matter was not discussed in the Saturday dinner party." He said he had not taken a stand and he would discuss all the issues with his colleagues in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Dalmiya said he was pained to see cricket being maligned at this time and said IPL cannot be given a clean chit. "Cricket took me to the post of ICC president. I am grateful to ICC and nations, nothing wrong happened then. I got so much from world cricket. It pains me all of us are maligned. IPL cannot be given a clean chit." Dalmiya said that Srinivasan may have the numbers with him and that could be the reason why he has not stepped down. "Srinivasan, I think, has the numbers not to resign. If Srinivasan knew he was short of even one vote or had doubts, he would have walked away", he said. When told that two of the the judges in the inquiry commission hailed from South, he said "why there`s a need for a three-member commission to clean cricket?". "Spot fixing is a relative term. It needs to be discussed. To clean cricket, make people feel what`s clean and what`s purely entertainment. People know what is clean and not clean cricket." "Tournaments like offshore cricket, Singapore cricket had been stopped," he added. Asked about India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s prolonged silence on the issue, Dalmiya said, "I`ve no idea about it." Dalmiya later stated in a press conference at the Eden Gardens that the IPL should be stopped "temporarily" if need be. But he also said that IPL cannot be held solely responsible for all the mess in cricket. "It's not just because of IPL but it is a golden opportunity to clean up." PTI