Dhindsa advocates leniency if players admit their involvement

Cricketers and officials have made sure that even on the comparatively quiet weekends, they have kept match fixing in the news. On May 27, a Saturday, Manoj Prabhakar displayed the sensational video tapes at a New Delhi press conference. The next Saturday, he handed over the tapes to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials. And on June 10, officials and players in India made sure that the scandal continued to make the headlines.

Taking the cue from the South African government, Indian Sports Minister SS Dhindsa said the government would take a lenient view of those players who come forth 'honestly' and revealed any information that they knew on match-fixing.

Talking to the press in New Delhi, Dhindsa said "I think leniency should be shown to those who reveal their involvement honestly." He added "I suggest they (players) come out in the open and reveal all. It will be good for the country and for the game." Dhindsa however, said it was upto the court to decide on the fate of the involved players.

Asked on a possible time frame on when the agency would complete its investigation, Dhindsa replied that "the agency has told me that they will process the investigation as fast as possible. But it is only the CBI which can tell you at what stage the investigation is."

On Kapil's continuation as coach, Dhindsa said "it's an internal matter of the cricket board and it is up to Kapil Dev how he reacts to the situation. After the submission of the video tapes by Manoj Prabhakar claiming to have evidence regarding involvement of a few players, it is upto Kapil Dev to decide whether he should step down from the post or not."

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Navjot Sidhu, speaking to a news agency from Patiala, said that he would appear before the agency to give his version following summons issued by the CBI. This is the second time Sidhu will be deposing before the agency which is looking into the match-fixing controversy. Sidhu was the player supposed to have been in the thick of events that happened in Colombo during the Singer Trophy in 1994. Prabhakar, who was Sidhu's room mate, had said that Sidhu was a witness to the bribe offer made by Kapil Dev to play poorly. Sidhu corraborated the statement in the clandestine tapes. Former Indian manager Ajit Wadekar will also be summoned by the CBI soon.

In an interview to a website indiaabroad.com, the 'tehelka' man Prabhakar surprised not only the interviewer but many others during the course of an interview in New Delhi on Saturday. Starting a new innings after taking the field by storm, Prabhakar said Indian coach Kapil Dev was still his 'favourite' player and added "I still feel like touching his feet, whenever he is in the field." He said he was not against any particular player but was fighting against the system.

Justifying his moves including the secret filming of video tapes Prabhakar said "I just want my countrymen to know the truth and I wanted to try and save the game, which I love. Without the truth, the game cannot be saved." He added "Ever since I was offered money to fix a match it has been playing on my mind.I felt that I should expose them. I had tape-recorded evidence, but it was not enough. So I looked for a better way to record their evidence."

Agreeing that what he did was unethical, Prabhakar said the use of hidden cameras "appears to be slightly" unethical. Prabhakar affirmed that in the end it justified the means. "I am a human being. Everyone is human and makes mistakes. I do not think what I did was wrong in any way. I just did not want to repeat mistakes. When mistakes are repeated, then they become real crimes," he said.

On what he achieved by all this, Prabhakar clarified that he was not doing this for publicity and said "I think my job is over. It is for the CBI to decide." His final advice was that "Indian cricketers should learn from South African cricketers. At least now they should come out with the truth."

On a separate front, in the Calcutta High Court, Justice Basudev Panigrahi directed both London based Sunday Telegraph and Delhi based India Today magazine to file an affidavit with regards to the defamtion suit filed by ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya who had filed a suit claiming damages to a tune of Rs. 50 crores in separate cases against the publications for publishing stories which tarnished his image.