CBI report might name two Indian cricketers

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that has been going into the charges of betting and matchfixing is on the verge of completing its preliminary investigations. With the first report due shortly, the CBI director, RK Raghavan told pressmen on Friday that the CBI was "burning midnight oil" to submit their preliminary report at the earliest.

At the same time, the selectors went one up by dropping `tainted' players on grounds of merit. It seems likely that their decision will be reinforced by the findings of the CBI. It was earlier rumoured that there were the names of at least two Indian cricketers mentioned in the famous "Cronje Tapes" that were in police possession. Recently reports appeared in a website that these tapes were either erased or lost. However, the CBI director strongly hinted that their report could name two Indian cricketers. Asked to comment on whether any Indian cricketers would be named, he said, "there may be one or two." However, he was cautious enough to add, "it will be dishonest on my part to say that I have come to that conclusion."

The director also said that the CBI would look at the findings of the King Commission for any corroborative evidence.

Let's go back to the Asia Cup that was played in Dhaka earlier this year. India suffered a hammering at the hands of both Sri Lanka and Pakistan. After the Asia Cup, India has not played any international cricket. When selecting the probables for the forthcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Knock Out Trophy to be played in Nairobi, the chairman of the selection committee Chandu Borde said that Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nikhil Chopra and Nayan Mongia were dropped on "merit." Or the lack of the same anyway. It perhaps is a curious coincidence that the four are also the players `tainted' by the matchfixing scandal. A quick look at the statistics from the Asia Cup tells a story:

Mohammed Azharuddin - 3 innings, 39 runs, highest 35 not out, Average 19.5. Ajay Jadeja - 2 innings, 101 runs, highest 93, Average 50.50. Nikhil Chopra - 1 match, 10 - 0 - 49 - 1. Nayan Mongia - 1 match, 4 runs, 1 catch

It's pretty clear that all those players could be dropped on merit, if performance in the Asia Cup was the basis for selection. Although Jadeja averaged 50.50 one must remember that this is only due to the innings of 93 he played against Pakistan long after India's cause was a lost one. Even this innings included a number of dropped catches. No one else in the above list achieved anything of note.

If any of these four cricketers are named by the CBI, it would safe to assume that their careers would be all but finished. One wonders though, whether Board officials would then come out and say that it was with this knowledge that they dropped the four cricketers. After all, our Board members might at times be lacking in foresight, but they are never short of what the American poet Robert Frost called "Revelation in retrospect."