Morarka hits out at BCCI action but Muthiah replies suitably

In the wake of the action taken by the BCCI against the players accused of match fixing at its disciplinary committee at Chennai on Tuesday, Kamal Morarka plainly had two choices. He could accept the verdict in keeping with sporting and democratic traditions or he could rant and rave and protest against the decision. He has chosen the latter path. Hitting out at the board, Morarka termed the action taken by the disciplinary committee as "hasty" and criticised the whole procedure at arriving at the decision as "jerky."

Morarka, who is the BCCI vice president as also a member of the disciplinary committee, hit out on Thursday at the action taken by the board. "There was undue haste in hanging the players," said Morarka, who skipped the disciplinary committee meeting which took the momentous decision, citing pressing commitments.

For some time now Morarka has come out openly against the CBI report and has advocated strongly for a soft stance towards the accused players. So perhaps his latest outburst is not surprising. He however reserved his comments on the quantum of punishment meted out to the players. The BCCI should have weighed the pros and cons before announcing their decision. However, their decision is like a judgement of the court and unless I read this judgement, I cannot comment on it," Morarka said.

Morarka, who has stirred up a lot of controversy of late by some openly critical remarks, said he was not aware of the procedure which preceded the BCCI decision of banning and suspending the players.

Board president AC Muthiah, who is currently enjoying perhaps the `finest hour' of his stewardship, can possibly afford to hit back at Morarka. The action taken by the board has received almost unanimous approval - from the ICC to players to the media - and Muthiah is undoubtedly riding a popularity wave. But he has chosen to respond to Morarka's latest outburst in cultured tones. In a statement released in Chennai, he said, "After having convened the meeting and announcing to everyone that a decision will be taken, I could not postpone the meeting any further. In my opinion, I have followed the procedures thoroughly. Both Mr Ram Prasad and I have assessed the issue from every angle and arrived at a fair judgement." Wise words indeed from an administrator who has suddenly turned Indian cricket's elder statesman.