Legendary Bishan Singh Bedi termed the ball tampering scandal involving top Australian cricketers “one of modern day cricket’s great tragedies” and held the players responsible for plunging the sport into crisis. The embattled Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner stood down as captain and vice-captain respectively for rest of Australia’s third Test match against South Africa while Cricket Australia investigated a ball-tampering scandal during the third day of the game.
“There is no doubt there has been a mistake and the players are responsible for this. The captain has accepted it, acknowledged the mistake, top management has admitted, this is not a handiwork of one or two players. It’s very sad, I would like to think it as one of great tragedies of modern cricket,” Bedi said.
“According to me, no limit could be prescribed for strict action. We do mislead, misguide kids — winning at any cost is a message that is wrong. Winning is important, but winning by fair means, is the message we must spread,” he added.
