'This isn't a bolt from the blue' - Kapil

Kapil Dev at the press conference called by the ICL to announce its new recruits © AFP

Kapil Dev has reacted to his sacking as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) by criticising the BCCI's refusal to talk to him.

"They [BCCI] did not bother to talk to me before announcing this. I think they felt it was below their dignity to talk to me. They have been doing this for the last 70 years and I'm afraid they will continue like this," Kapil told Aaj Tak, a Hindi news channel. He was removed from the NCA post for his involvement with the Indian Cricket League.

"But I'm not shattered or surprised. It's not as if lightning has struck me," he said. "This was surely not a bolt from the blue, for such a possibility was doing the rounds for quite sometime."

"It feels bad that though I wanted to teach them [his former wards at the NCA] a few things, I can't do that any more. They have to learn things themselves. I did not get the opportunity to help them learn."

The BCCI sacked Kapil - who is chairman of the ICL's executive board - a day after the league announced a host of new recruits, including 44 domestic cricketers and a few international cricketers such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and Lance Klusener, who will take part in a Twenty20 competition.

The domestic cricketers who have signed up for the ICL have been barred from playing in tournaments affiliated to the BCCI and they will not be able to derive any benefits from the board.