BCCI working on how to restore credibility of game: VVS Laxman

Mumbai, July 22: Terming the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal as "unfortunate", former India batsman VVS Laxman today said the BCCI should work towards cleansing the game and restoring the credibility of the cash-rich league.

"It (the IPL scandal) is an unfortunate incident and the BCCI is working on how to restore the credibility of the game. They have formed a working group to look into the Justice (Retd) R M Lodha Committee recommendations. They are capable of doing that," Laxman told 'Times Now' when asked about his views on the Lodha committee's verdict.

The Supreme-Court appointed Lodha committee last week suspended IPL teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years for betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season. Meiyappan and Kundra were handed life suspensions after they were found guilty of placing bets during the matches.

Asked about the IPL's perceived loss of credibility from the viewpoint of the fans, Laxman said, "No individual is bigger than the game and game should be the winner. It was a bad incident and I am sure the BCCI will be able to clean it up."

He, however, batted for the IPL to bring back the game into focus with some quality cricket. "IPL is a good product. It is important for the sport and the IPL to produce some quality cricket. We should now focus on cricket. IPL 8 had some quality cricket among the eight franchises and nobody knew which teams will qualify for the play-offs till towards the end (of league phase). Quality cricket is the need of the hour," said 40-year-old Laxman who retired in 2012 after scoring 8,781 runs from 134 Tests.

PTI