The tour should go on: Bedi

Former captain of the Indian cricket team, Bishan Singh Bedi has said that irrespective of whether the match referee Mike Denness is removed or not removed the tour should go on.

Speaking to rediff.com on Wednesday Bedi said that instead of raking up the controversy further attempt should be made to sort out the matter.

"The heavens will not fall if Mike Denness continues as the match referee. Denness or no Denness the tour should go on. Such factors should not affect the tour," Bedi added.

He agreed that the former England captain had perhaps gone a bit too far in penalising six of the Indian players.

" I am of the opinion excessive appealing has to go and it is the responsibility of the captain to ensure that his lads do not get carried over board. What Denness has done is overbearing that he decided to penalise six of the Indian players in one go and let the other side go scot free," he said.

But he also complimented Mike Denness for achieving what the team management could not. "After the decision by the match referee the whole Indian team played like a team and stuck to their job and managed to draw the match. Denness needs to be complimented as he did this job in one day what John Wright and Ganguly could not do in one and a half months. The whole team played like a united force," Bedi added in good humour.

On another tangent, he welcomed the decision of former Indian captain Kapil Dev to take up the BCCI assignment to train Indian fast bowlers for the world cup.

"Let us not see anything sinister in the decision to come back. His return to cricket is a welcome step," Bedi said.

When asked to comment on the dismal performance of the Indian cricket team in South Africa, Kapil Dev said that he did not think that the team's performance has suffered.

"You are talking of our dismal performance abroad, but hasn't this been happening for last thirty years. I would give credit to the Indian team that they atleast reached the finals of nine one day tournaments. It does not matter if they lost lost the finals. The Indian media has been uncharitable to the boys," he said.

He said that more then getting involved in the controversies what is important is that we should concentrate on winning the next world cup in 2003.

India's tour of South Africa: Complete coverage