Sir Vivian Richards slams ICC, accuses them of bias towards the Indian cricket team

Legendary West Indian batsman Sir Vivian Richards has slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for reprimanding the West Indies following their victory in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, while also accusing them showing partiality and bias towards India.

Top West Indies cricketers like skipper Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels were rebuked by the ICC at a recent meeting in Dubai for their behaviour post their win, which has not impressed the original master blaster. Richards said the world body has one rule for the Sammy-lead outfit and another one for the Indian cricket team.

"There are rules in the One Day game under the auspices of the ICC, like for instance the system where you go back to the third umpire and things like that. So if you are the sole governing body of world cricket, then everyone should be coming under the same umbrella," said Richards, as quoted by India today.

"The Indians do not play certain things the ICC may have in its rules, they totally ignore that and they have been getting away with it for years."

The board meeting in Dubai saw the ICC officially reprimanding the West Indies players , saying their actions were "inappropriate, disrespectful and brought the event into disrepute". It was also seriously considering bringing charges against the team in relation to its code of conduct.

The West Indies players celebrated their T20 World Cup win by removing their shirts, with Samuels involved in a spat with English all-rounder Ben Stokes, for which he was fined. Skipper Sammy used the occasion to openly criticise the West Indies board and its practices.

Richards, who played 121 Tests and 187 One Day Internationals (ODI) for the West Indies, felt such a ruling was not fair.

"I am only trying to hit back because of what they are trying to do because of Sammy's comments. They are trying to be a body that if you say this, it's out of order then you're going to be this and you're going to be that. When you look around the world in terms of governance of the ICC, there are rules for some and not for others."