Spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi threatened to take legal action against DDCA if his name is not removed from a grandstand at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium with immediate effect.
On Wednesday, Bedi sent a letter to the Delhi and District Cricket Association, criticizing her for installing a statue of her former president Arun Jaitley in Kotla.
In the absence of any response from the DDCA, Bedi wrote another letter to the cricket agency on Saturday.
“It’s been a few days since I wrote to you … A few minutes after my letter went public, I had overwhelming support from the cricket fraternity around the world. But I am sad that there was no reaction from you, ”Bedi wrote in his letter to DDCA president Rohan Jaitley.
“… I hope that in our country people still have the right to decide as individuals that they want to join and where their nameplates can be hung with dignity. Please don’t pressure me to go to court. “
Bedi also decided to resign from joining the DDCA.
In his scathing letter, Bedi questioned the “reckless” and “inexplicable” silence of the DDCA president.
“His seemingly ill-advised silence on my letter, which sparked a public debate about perpetuating politicians in sports venues, exposes his naivete,” he wrote.
“His inexplicable silence also underlines the guilt of holding a power post just because of his family’s name, which he obviously wants to promote, whatever happens.
“Finally, I hope you have the basic courtesy to respond to a former cricketer who is not asking for a favor, but wants his integrity in cricket not to be changed.”
The Jaitley statue will be inaugurated by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly in Kotla on Monday in the presence of union interior minister Amit Shah and former BCCI chief Anurag Thakur, among others.
Bedi said he did not want to be associated with the cricket stadium, which has a statue of the late politician, who was a minister in the NDA government led by the BJP and died last year due to several health problems.
“I have known for a long time that DDCA has a tradition of ignoring the voice of cricket players, hence this reminder. There is a reason for my urgent request, ”said the 74-year-old.
“… Not for a day or even a minute would I feel better about being part of a cricket stadium that has a statue of a person, which I strongly believe, brought down the values of cricket in the Capital enormously to say the least.
“No, I don’t want a position in my name when the statue of the late Arun Jaitley is erected without any visible shame.”
Jaitley was president of the DDCA for 14 years, from 1999 to 2013, before leaving the administration of cricket. The body plans to have a statue of almost two meters installed in the Kotla to honor its memory.
DDCA named one of the stands in honor of Bedi in November 2017, along with another former player from India, Mohinder Amarnath.