Azharuddin says Mumbai cricketers not probed properly

Former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin has said while he was being implicated in the match-fixing scandal, cricketers from Mumbai had been able to get away with wrong-doings without being "investigated properly".

"Nobody talks of the Rs 70 lakh cash found in Sunil Gavaskar's Gymkhana locker. What about Ravi Shastri's Ali Bagh farm house and other costly properties? How did Vinod Kambli lose his money from a locker?" Azharuddin asked in an interview to Outlook magazine.

Azharuddin, who has been banned for life following his indictment by the CBI and the BCCI's internal inquiry by its Anti-Corruption Commissioner K Madhavan, said he was being targeted because people were "jealous" of his achievements.

"I think people are jealous of me. I have had a successful career and have played for long," a press release from the magazine quoted him as saying.

In his first interview after being banned, Azharuddin asserted that he would challenge the life-ban in court. "I am emphatic about my success in court which I am shortly approaching."

He also denied allegations that he did not give his 100 per cent under Sachin Tendulkar's captaincy.

"That is completely untrue. Under his (Tendulkar's) captaincy, I scored more runs than he had while captain. I find it difficult to understand why he made such a statement," he said referring to Tendulkar's statement to the effect to the CBI.

On his first reaction to the CBI report, the former Indian captain said, "I took the report as any other blakmailing tactic." He said there was a "malicious campaign" against him when he was made captain in 1993. "The present BCCI president A C Muthiah opposed my candidature," he said.

Azharuddin said he was still hopeful of starting his cricket academy and making a comeback to play his 100th Test.

"I wish to. It will be a great honour to join the 100-Test club. (But) before stepping out into the public, I want to clear my name, as I have been wronged," he said.