He, however, did not feel the same for the cricketers and expressed disappointment that ``senior cricket players'' didn't play up to the mark and ``were seen more anxious to get away from Kuala Lumpur and head for Toronto.

``The criticism in the press that they value lucre more than medals and flags has validity,'' he said. ``In fact, I feel sorry for the youngsters who, unware of other things, tried to give their best. I think, the senior players have already made the money and now its time that the juniors should be given a chance.

``The commercial burden on cricket makes me concerned about the disease in the sub-continent...its' a very messy game going on. But it should be remembered that cricket and business don't go together,'' he said.

Gill felt sorry for Manoj Prabhakar and said that it was unfair that the BCCI had not given him his dues. ``Prabhakar was a brilliant player. And it is unfortunate that he is not being given his dues in terms of benefit match, for the simple reason that he came out strongly against the Board''.