Chadha demands explanation from Prabhakar

In the recent past a whole host of cricketers, former cricketers and administrators have come to the defence of Kapil Dev. Manoj Prabhakar's allegations have hurt the former India all rounder deeply. In a counter to Prabhakar's claims, former national selector Ravinder Chadha has asked Prabhakar to explain a few actions of his.

Chadha takes us back to the 1994-95 season. The Wills World Series was played between India, West Indies and New Zealand in India in October- November. The format of the series was such that each team played other teams twice. At the end of the first round of matches, India had beaten both New Zealand and West Indies. The match between West Indies and New Zealand was abandoned. This meant that there was a serious chance that West Indies could be knocked out of the tournament if they lost to India at Kanpur.

Led by a series of sound contributions from its top order batsmen, West Indies scored 257 for six. India was still within touch of the required scoring rate for victory late in the match when Nayan Mongia joined Prabhakar at the crease. What followed, however, was a dawdling exhibition of batting which ensured that the home team finished as many as 46 runs adrift of their opponents' total. Even though Prabhakar ultimately made an unbeaten century, both he and Mongia were suspended subsequently for two matches.

The extent of the Indians' act of underperformance became so manifest by the end of the game that International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Raman Subba Row docked two points (wins in the tournament were worth four) from their final tally. He did so on the suspicion that they were instructed to lose the game in order to ensure that West Indies would qualify for the Final ahead of New Zealand and thus guarantee the financial success of the competition's concluding match.

Speaking to the press, Ravinder Chadha challenged Prabhakar to explain his slow batting. He told the press that though India required 63 runs to win off the last 43 balls, no attempt was made to go after the target. In the end India managed to score just 16 runs off the last 43 balls. Chadha asked Prabhakar to explain his slow batting and added that he was not sure what action was taken against him. Whether Prabhakar will take up the gauntlet Chadha has thrown at him is anybody's guess.