Retired Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has slammed Cricket Australia (CA) for not standing with its players during the Monkeygate incident in 2008. He said the board let the incident go as there would have been a financial loss if BCCI had decided to end the series midway.
Akhtar also criticized BCCI for flaunting their money power from time to time. He blamed India's cricket body for T20 World Cup being postponed and added that it happened to make way for IPL.
During the Monkeygate scandal, Harbhajan Singh was charged with racially abusing Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the second Test of India's tour Down Under in 2008.
"Sometimes they get easy wickets in Melbourne, someone calls another person a monkey but gets away with it, there are threats to boycotting the series. I am asking the Australians, where are their ethics?", Akhtar said on a YouTube chat show with Geo Cricket.
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"You made kids cry for scratching a cricket ball and they got away by calling someone a monkey. When they (BCCI) threatened to end the series, they (Cricket Australia) said no such incident happened. Are these your moral grounds?
"Forget all this drama, just say that we need money. The money comes from the BCCI, you quietly keep taking it," he added.
Akhtar was also unhappy with ICC postponing the scheduled T20 World Cup this year to next year. "T20 World Cup could have also happened, but I had already said this earlier that they won't let it happen. IPL should not be damaged, let the World Cup go to hell," he said.