Bindra's evidence could be vital

He has always been a high profile sports administrator. He has been associated with other sports but his name for last decade or so, has been involved only with cricket. As one of the leading administrators of the game in the country, Inderjit Singh Bindra has never been away from the spotlight for very long. As president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India from 1993 to 1996 and as the current president of the Punjab Cricket Association, he has left his mark on the game. He has never been afraid of controversy - either generating it or facing it - and this has come to the fore during the match fixing scandal. He has frequently held press conferences to air his views boldly and freely. And while some of his more serious allegations have been against ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya with whom he has apparently fallen out in recent times - though they were good friends not too long ago - he has also made serious and at times emotional charges against players and other administrators, even at times zeroing in on the matches that he maintains have been fixed.

His detractors might dismiss Bindra's allegations as nothing but a personal tirade against Dalmiya. But there is little doubt that Bindra is not exactly just after publicity. He cares deeply for the game, has wholeheartedly welcomed the CBI inquiry into the match fixing scandal and has made it clear that he would co-operate fully with the probe.``A government probe is different from what the BCCI carried out three years ago (an obvious reference to the Chandrachud report). I will be the first to help them in any way possible. If it is names they want, they will get names.''

Despite increasing pressure, Bindra has so far not revealed any names. But then of course neither has anyone else. And while the main focus in the match fixing scandal may still be on the players, Bindra is convinced that they are ``small fish''. He is firmly of the view that administrators are responsible for the corruption in the game. ``If the role of players is five percent, the role of administrators is 95 percent. If the administrators are strict, then match fixing cannot take place. It is very difficult, a one in a million chance. But if you shut your eyes and ears or join in then it's very easy.''

As a measure of his eagerness to ``remove this malignant growth by surgery'' as he puts it, Bindra claims that he is preparing a detailed document on match fixing which he will hand over to the CBI. ``Within a week's time I will give them a document I have been producing for the last four days. It will be a booklet of 60 to 100 pages with whatever little circumstantial evidence I have,'' he told a TV programme today. At least no one can say that Bindra does not know what he is talking about. He has made a thorough probe of his own on the sensitive subject.

Predictably enough, Bindra has been frequently asked what he has done to tackle the problem, when he was the BCCI president and even after that when he has remained an influential member. Bindra has always maintained that he raised the issue at BCCI meetings. ``When I felt the board was stone walling the issue and sweeping all allegations under the carpet, I decided to go public. I was quiet for four years thinking this would damage cricket. Today I am talking because if I remain quiet, cricket will be destroyed,'' he told the programme. According to Bindra, he was not naming anyone because ``these people are so powerful. If they are named, they will become cautious.''

Now however the situation is different. Bindra has said he will co-operate fully with the CBI probe, a development he has welcomed. So he may disclose a few names finally. And even if the CBI interviews thousands of persons while delving deep into the match fixing scam, over and above the evidence of anyone else, one suspects that whatever Bindra divulges will be the one evidence most would be waiting for. Will it be anti climactic? Or will it have a telling effect on the scandal? The cricketing world waits with bated breath.