Kapil Dev, recently voted Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century, has joined the wellspring of support that has opened out for the Indian players in the wake of the ICC Contracts crisis. "Our boys are undergoing mental torture and I feel sorry for them," Kapil said to a leading news agency. Lashing out at ICC, he continued, "I am amazed the ICC wants our cricketers to break existing contracts, wants them to do something unlawful. Is this how the sports governing body should behave? Should it encourage indiscipline? I can't believe it. Are contracts or agreements ever one-sided?"

Former Test opener Gopal Bose added: "The ICC is almost asking players to sign a blank cheque."

Former World Cup star and current member of parliament, Kirti Azad, spoke out against ICC chief Malcolm Speed's jingoistic ultimatum to the players to choose between cash and country. "Can one question Sachin Tendulkar's commitment to playing for India just because he opposes the contracts?" he asked.

Interestingly, the support for the players came not just from the cricketers' fraternity, but also from the general public. In a poll conducted by an Indian television channel, as many as 80% of the viewers polled expressed their support for the beleaguered Indian cricketers.

But a greater display of support was probably the one in Kolkata, where irate crowds burnt effigies of ICC head honchos Malcolm Gray and Malcolm Speed. Kolkata is, needless to say, the hometown of Jagmohan Dalmiya, the gentleman under whose regime at ICC the contracts in dispute took shape, and who is now hoist, as it were, by his own petard.

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