In a candid chat with Tellychakkar.com, Vindoo Dara Singh champions legalized cricket betting and defends himself from charges of match fixing. Read on… Vindoo, the Mukul Mudgal Committee has found your friend Gurunath Meiyappan involved in betting. Is that a setback for you? Not at all! Why should it be a setback? This is all rubbish. I have nothing to do with all this. Ever since I was implicated in all this I’ve not watched one ball of cricket. I will never again watch a match. Are you saying you have nothing to do with the IPL and Meiyappan? Of course I know Meiyappan. We are friends. But we’re not like Jai and Veeru in Sholay. We know each other. I know him well. We’re both cricket lovers. We are a country of cricket fans. But my point is, if they start going after people in the cricket business like this, haath dho kar, then they might as well shut down the IPL and ban cricket in this country. The truth is, we’re a cricket-obsessed country. And we all like to discuss what’s going on the field. Suppose during a match I said, ‘Sachin zero pe out ho jayega’ are you going to put me in jail for that? What nonsense is that! We think the situation is not that simple? It is very much that only. The fight is between Lalit Modi and N Srinivasan. One guy feels he created the IPL, the guy feels he is running it. Now with Mr Srinivasan being appointed ICC chief he is now more powerful than before. And poor Lalit Modi! He has been declared a fugitive. The IPL was started by him. He should just come back and explain himself to the country. In spite of the allegations Srinivasan has been made ICC chief? That’s because he hasn’t done anything wrong, you understand? A small fry like me is unfairly caught in the crossfire between these two giants. What have I done? Love cricket? That is a crime a majority of Indians are guilty of. We’ve nothing to do with betting. We’ve been unnecessarily implicated into all this. We don’t know who the hell this Ramesh Vyas is. We’ve been pushed into this. Another friend of yours Raj Kundra has also been implicated? There is no team, no IPL owner, or no person connected with the IPL who would not be caught talking about cricket at some point of time if his telephone is tapped. And out of a 100 lines, 1 line may be suggestive or suspicious. Does that mean everyone is an IPL fixer? Are they all going to be implicated? Then please shut down the IPL. This all rubbish....all politics. Anyway I am staying away from all things cricket. I’ve nothing to do with the game. I’ve done nothing wrong. It will be proven in court. Did you depose before the Mudgal Committee? I couldn’t because I am fighting a case in a lower court. Our lawyer told us not to speak to the Mudgal Committee unless our case was removed from the lower court. Are you in favour of making cricket betting legal in this country? Absolutely. Also stop telecasting live cricket matches. Once you do that the whole world is betting and speculating. Have a delayed live telecast of cricket matches. All these controversies have taken a toll on the game. India is not performing well in the game. Politics has ruined cricket. With Sachin Tendulkar the game of cricket has also come to a kind of closure. Are you in touch with any of your friends from the cricketing world? No one at all. If anyone from the cricketing world wants to say hi he is most welcome. But we won’t discuss cricket. From the day I stopped taking interest in cricket my life improved. Now I’ve more time for my family. Vindoo, how did a simple sweet guy like you get into this mess? Cricket is a sweet and simple game. I used to play cricket in school. Like millions of Indians I also love it. At least 3 crore Indians must be betting over the matches. Aisa maine kuch nahin jiske liye sharminda hona pade. I’d never do anything to bring shame to my father’s (Dara Singh) name. Do you think there’s a tendency to make examples out of celebrities? Oh absolutely. And when I see Sanjay Dutt’s plight I feel lucky. The cops didn’t even confiscate my passport after I was called for questioning. I was able to fly out ten days after the questioning. Sanjay is 54 years old. He has two little children. Rather than let him languish in jail, let him open a hospital for the poor outside jail. What a great guy he is. I think the legal system makes examples out of celebrities. So you’re saying betting is right? Yes, it should be made legal. But match-fixing is completely wrong. Anyone who has done it should be sent to jail. Do you feel isolated in the film industry? Naturally there is some apprehension about signing me. Whenever there is a report on match-fixing Vindoo’s name is there. Thankfully the food on my table doesn’t depend on the largesse of the film industry. I’d rather not do two scenes in big films. I’ve just completed a Punjabi film Jatt & James Bond where I play Zarine Khan’s brother. Your closing thoughts? I now think like this. I used to love cricket. Now I feel my love for cricket ended with Sachin Tendulkar’s career. RIP.