Indian news round-up

Former Indian captain and coach Kapil Dev meet the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Anti Corruption Commissioner K Madhavan at an undisclosed venue in New Delhi on Wednesday regarding the Board's internal inquiry into match-fixing and betting in the game.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the former CBI joint director said "till last evening even I was not sure whether we were going to meet. It was decided only this morning and Kapil Dev was ready to come only on the condition that the media does not come to know about it." He added "We looked into all the facts that have been mentioned in the CBI report without exception."

Madhavan said that during the three and a half hour questioning they dwelt on all matters including his former teammate Manoj Prabhakar's allegations of offering him Rs 25 lakh for underperforming in 1994 and the controversial decision not impose follow-on on New Zealand in Ahmedabad Test in 1999 when he was the coach. Madhavan hoped that he would submit the report to the board with in the next two to three weeks.

The Union Sports Ministry's enquiry into the withdrawal of the Arjuna Awards bestowed upon the tainted cricketers turned out to be a damp squib as all the three - Manoj Prabhakar, Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja - failed to turn up before the panel in New Delhi.

Speaking to the press in the capital on Wednesday, Joint Secretary JP Singh said "I have received written explanations from all three players. Jadeja will not come now." Quoting an undisclosed source Press Trust of India in a report said "Jadeja has recently written a letter in this regard as the Madhavan Committee Report was made available to him only last week."

Azharuddin, Jadeja and Prabhakar have been found guilty of matchfixing practices by the CBI and the BCCI's internal inquiry conducted by Madhavan. The three were then handed down bans of varying degrees. Azharuddin, Prabhakar and Jadeja were conferred Arjuna Awards in 1986, 1993 and 1997 respectively.

Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Thursday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed the Sharjah Trination Tournamentre scheduled itinerary from April 8 to 20 and has also named three India cricketers as the beneficiaries.

Quoting the letter written to the Cricketers' Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) by the secretary of the BCCI JY Lee, the report said "We confirm the proposed itinerary sent by you and we are pleased to inform you that we will participate in the cup." The tri-nation tournament which was earlier slated to be held from April 4 to 13 also involves Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

PTI added that the BCCI has also named the former Indian captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, former wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer and medium pacer Chetan Sharma as the three beneficiaries while Pakistan have named former Test players Sarfraz Nawaz and Majid Khan. The latter however has reportedly turned down the offer.

Arch rivals India and Pakistan will meet each other at the Under-17 level in Dhaka next month, officials said on Wednesday. "India has confirmed participation in the ICC-ACC (International Cricket Council- Asian Cricket Council) Under-17 Tournament in Dhaka next month," tournament director Aneel Kalawar told reporters.

Kalawar, secretary of the Singapore Cricket Association, is currently in Karachi to finalise the programme of the event with ACC secretary Zakir Hussain Syed and ICC development manager for the Asian region Nasimul Ghani. "India has confirmed its participation and is placed in group A along with Sri Lanka, Malaysia, UAE and Oman," Kalawar said.

The tournament will be played at Dhaka between February 15 and 25. The first ICC-ACC Under-17 event was held in Pakistan last year but India did not send a team.