Virender Sehwag joins Bishan Singh Bedi and Kirti Azad to fight corruption in cricket

Bishan Singh Bedi, the former Indian captain and the former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad organised a get together to fight against corruption in cricket as they focussed mainly on the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). The event received a great boost with the presence of some top cricketers from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab and former batsman of the Indian team Virender Sehwag was also present in the get-together.

As reported in the Outlook, a senior member of the organising team said that Sehwag’s presence was a big boost for the programme set up to fight corruption.

The report said that Sehwag didn’t speak at the gathering on the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Lodha Committee report. The organisers said that even his presence was important and there was an indication that the batsman was willing to get involved.

Sehwag, who is the only Indian to have scored two triple Test centuries, appreciated the gathering by presenting a bouquet to Bedi and touching his feet in respect. The Indian batsman was thanked by Azad for joining the fight against corruption.

The former cricketer Azad stated that the woman cricketers didn’t accept his invite, "They are not aware what has happened with the Lodha Committee, that's why they didn't turn up,” and referred to the wide-ranging, pro-cricketers recommendations.

The former Indian hockey captain Zafar Iqbal, who was invited by Bedi, received a great round of applause when Kirti pointed out that Iqbal played a crucial role in India’s last Olympic hockey gold in 1980. Another official of the event said that the former World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev wished to attend the event but could not turn up.

Even Kolkata Knight Rider’s captain Gautam Gambhir assured Bedi and Kirti that he was with them but could not attend the event.

Kirti spoke passionately during the gathering and recalled some of the important events of his sustained fight against on-field as well as off-field corruption in Delhi cricket while Bedi saluted Kirti and his comrade, Sameer Bahadur, for their tireless efforts.

Bedi said "And this ideology is being backed by facts and figures. For this, I salute Kirti and Sameer Bahadur. If they have made some noise in the DDCA and Parliament, it is because of these facts and figures," while referring to an alleged financial irregularities which is running into crores of rupees.