Ajay Sharma in England playing league cricket, says wife

Former Indian cricketer Ajay Sharma is said to be playing league cricket in England according to his wife Sanjana. In an interview to an Indian newspaper, Sanjana termed the earlier reports that Ajay was absconding which appeared in a Delhi based magazine as `baseless'. Distributing copies of a contract signed by Ajay with an English club Badihani, Sanjana said ``for goodness sake, my husband has not fled the country. He has gone to London to play cricket as per his contract,'' she said.

Sanjana added ``he is playing for the club in Burnley, near Manchester, ever since April 20, when he left India, and will return in September."

Former Ranji player and a friend of Ajay's, KP Bhasker confirmed that Ajay had gone to play league cricket in England. ``We were playing a tournament in Meerut some weeks ago and I remember Ajay mentioning to me that he had a contract to play for a club in England and would be leaving in April'' he said.

Admitting that her husband and former Indian captain Azharuddin were very good friends, Sanjana quipped "Yes, they are friends and they meet often, so what does it prove? She dismissed the report that her husband was the agent between the bookies and Azharuddin. On Ajay's reactions to the alleged report on match fixing she said ``Ajay was amused and surprised when I told him about the report. He has not read it but was shocked when I told him over the phone.''