BCCI bans famous five in strong move

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. Although the ban, which was communicated to all state associations, comes into effect immediately, it will be placed before the working committee of the BCCI soon to be ratified.

The strong signals sent by the board and by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister for Sports indicate that the ratification in the forthcoming meeting is a mere formality. The move by the BCCI must be viewed as an extremely positive development. Although several international cricketers have been mentioned in the report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation, their respective boards have come out strongly in their defense. Brian Lara, Alec Stewart, Aravinda De Silva, Mark Waugh, Dean Jones and Martin Crowe all instantly denied fixing any matches.

Denials however have lost all value in the wake of the matchfixing controversy. A knee jerk reaction that every accused cricketer has used, denials are used more to stall for time than anything else these days. Martin Crowe has made a qualified denial. He admits having spoken to the infamous bookie MK and even receiving payment from him. However, Crowe claims that he thought MK was a journalist and that the payment was in lieu of an interview given. Mark Waugh admits to taking money, but claims it was far less than the amount MK declared to the CBI. Crowe and Waugh have done a Cronje in saying that they did receive payment, but did not fix matches.

Brian Lara, the troubled prince of West Indian cricket and Dean Jones have flatly denied any involvement in matchfixing. 1996 World Cup star Aravinda De Silva admits that he was offered bribes to underperform but denies accepting the same. Alec Stewart has been backed by the England and Wales Cricket Board and retains his place in the England side currently on tour in Pakistan.

Sir Paul Condon, former British cop was appointed by the International Cricket Council to investigate the murky world of matchfixing. He is scheduled to arrive in India next week to meet the CBI and take fresh investigations forward.