BCCI bans 'famous five'

In the first concrete move after the CBI submitted its report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has banned five tainted players from taking part in international cricket. In addition, Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma have been banned from playing all tournaments or matches conducted under the aegis of the BCCI. Currently, Ajay Sharma is playing for Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy while Ajay Jadeja represents Jammu and Kashmir in the same tournament. Azharuddin did not turn out for Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy lung opener while Nayan Mongia's state Baroda has not kicked off its Ranji season yet. Manoj Prabhakar, who opened the lid on this controversy retired from representative cricket earlier.

This decision was taken by BCCI supremo AC Muthiah in consultation with R Madhavan, former CBI director. Madhavan has been looking into allegations of matchfixing for a while now. The ban comes into effect from the very moment it was announced and was communicated to all state associations. Although the ban comes into effect immediately, it will be placed before the working committee of the BCCI soon to be ratified.