Azharuddin demands probe into Ahmedabad Test

Saying that "something smells fishy", former captain Mohd Azharuddin, banned for life from playing cricket, has demanded a thorough probe into the 1999 Ahmedabad Test between India and New Zealand, where the hosts did not enforce the follow-on and the match meandered into a draw.

"Yes, it is very important that it (Ahmedabad Test) be probed. It is a different matter that I did not play there, but something smells fishy," Azharuddin said in an interview to Outlook magazine that hit the stands on Monday.

India had taken more than 200 runs lead, but surprisingly did not enforce the follow-on and instead decided to start their second innings.

The then captain Sachin Tendulkar, in a meeting with CBI officials after the match-fixing scandal was exposed, had expressed his suspicion about the decision saying he always thought New Zealand would be asked to follow on.

Maintaining that he was being singled out in the match-fixing controversy, Azharuddin said "match-fixing simply cannot be a one-man show. He said: "Unless the entire team is part of the conspiracy, match-fixing cannot take place. This is a game which involves 11 players. If a team fails, it is spectacularly unfair to single out just one person," he said. "There cannot be any foul play on the part of a single person. In fact, even five players cannot work to fix a match, it won't work... the entire team has to be in the know."

Asked whether there was a conspiracy in this entire match-fixing probe to lay all the blame on him, Azharuddin said: "I have been discriminated against. Others have been let off lightly."

On the reports that he has vast properties and unaccounted money, Azhar said: "My taxes are clear. I have been playing cricket for 17 years. Why don't people understand that I would have earned some money through match fees and endorsements."

Azharuddin said he gave his best years of life to cricket but administrators have let him down. "I'll fight it out," Azharuddin said of the ban. "I still remain positive. There is always tomorrow."

The Hyderabad player, who remained elusive for long and avoided public appearances after the Board slapped the ban on him, said he had been wronged. "I want to present myself in a court of law. Before stepping out into the public, I want to clear my name, as I have been wronged." He remained confident that he would get justice some day. "I am very confident it will be done. I'm innocent of all the charges levelled against me."