BCCI President Sharad Pawar on Sunday sought to play down the controversy regarding Indian cricket team manager Raj Singh Dungarpur's reported remarks on Sourav Ganguly saying he believed Dungarpur's version.
Dungarpur, who was reported by a TV channel as describing Sourav Ganguly as "laziest and possibly the worst fielder" on Friday, yesterday did a volte face terming the former captain as a "tremendous batsman".
"After this controversy, I spoke to Dungarpur and he informed me that the channels were using clips which were three-four months old. He told me that he had not made any remarks about Ganguly during the current Pak tour," Pawar, who is here for NCP state convention.
"Now a days, TV channels who have cricketers as anchors begin to worry what would happen to them if the concerned player is not included in the team," he said hinting that it could be a tactic of the private channels.
Pawar said Dungarpur told him that he had been team manager on five occasion and would never do something which would hurt the team.
{{/usCountry}}Pawar said Dungarpur told him that he had been team manager on five occasion and would never do something which would hurt the team.
{{/usCountry}}"I believe Dungarpur. He has no financial interest like the news channels. Those creating such controversies should also consider national interests before commencing such a campaign," Pawar, also the Union Agriculture Minister, said.