Indian news round-up

The chief executive of the Cricketers' Benefit Fund Series (CBFS), Zahid Noorani said in Dubai on Monday that the forthcoming trination series in Sharjah has been rescheduled by four days and is now to be played from April 8 to 20 at India's request to avoid a clash of dates with the Australian team's tour of the country.

Speaking to the media, Noorani said "We received a request from the Indian Cricket Board to shift the dates as Australia will be playing one-day international matches in India till April 6." Media reports added that the CBFS has also informed Pakistan and Sri Lanka about the change in dates and it is hoped that they would agree to the new schedule as they have no commitments during the period.

Press Trust of India (PTI) added that the BCCI had earlier decided to cancel a three-day match against Australia ahead of the first Test in order to accommodate the Sharjah series which was scheduled to begin on April 4. But following reports that the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) had expressed unhappiness over the change in the itinerary, the BCCI decided to ask the CBFS for rescheduling the series.

The show cause proceedings relating to the withdrawal of the Arjuna Awards given to tainted cricketers in the match fixing scandal turned out to be a fiasco with Manoj Prabhakar not appearing before a special committee for the first round of hearings.

Quoting Prabhakar, Press Trust of India (PTI) said that he had no intimation to appear before the committee. Prabhakar said "Whatever I had to say (to the Government), I have already said in writing." The Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Uma Bharti had constituted a panel in order to give a chance to the indicted cricketers - Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja and Mohammed Azharuddin - to explain why their Arjuna Awards should not be withdrawn following bans imposed on them.

PTI also quoted a senior ministry official scheduled to hear the proceedings as saying that Prabhakar was supposed to turn up but had not confirmed or denied the same. Regarding the other two cricketers Azharuddin and Jadeja, the official said "They may come, or they may not. I have not received any intimation from any of the three so far."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Anti Corruption Commissioner K Madhavan said in New Delhi on Monday that he was through with the final round of questioning with the former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar.

Speaking to the Press Trust of India (PTI) after a three and a half hour meeting at the DDCA, Madhavan said "His (Wadekar) interrogation is over. Whatever we wanted to know we have asked... he was cooperative and answered all our questions." The former CBI director added "We have recorded his statement. It'll be typed and then Wadekar will sign the statement in the evening." Speaking about his appointment with Kapil Dev on January 10, Madhavan said that the time and the venue of the meeting is yet to be decided. He said "He (Kapil Dev) has more or less confirmed but nothing is final as yet."

Meanwhile Wadekar, whose name does not figure in the CBI report, was at a loss to explain why this meeting was arranged. He said "I don't know why I was asked to depose again. It's ill-timed as I'm busy campaigning for the Mumbai Cricket Association elections."

Indian opening batsman Shiv Sundar Das will lead East Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy tournament this year. East Zone plays their first match against Central Zone from January 11 at Kanpur.

The squad (for the first two matches): Shiv Sunder Das (captain), Deep Dasgupta (wicketkeeper), Rohan Gavaskar, Utpal Chatterjee, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Rajiv Kumar, Zakaria Zuffri, Debashish Mohanty, Javed Zaman, Mihir Diwakar, Mridul Gupta, Nikhil Haldipur, Sanjay Raul, Sukhbinder Singh and Ganesh Kumar.

Former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu has been granted bail regarding the 12 year old murder case which was filed against the cricketer following the death of a person during an altercation with him.

The Patiala Chief Judicial Magistrate, while granting the bail, directed Sidhu to appear before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 16. The High Court had issued warrants against Sidhu after the family members of the deceased, Gurnam Singh, appealed against the orders of a local court that acquitted the cricketer.

The case of murder was registered against the former Indian opener after the death of Gurnam Singh in December 1988 in an altercation between them.