Indian news round-up

Welcoming the support from the International Cricket Council (ICC), the CBI on Sunday said it would soon send a team to London to gather information from the world body on the cricket telecast rights case and other matters arising out of the match-fixing scandal.

"We would be soon sending a team to London and the support from ICC is important for us as some of their officials have also been named in two of the cases," CBI spokesman SM Khan told reporters in New Delhi on Sunday. He said the agency was always in touch with the anticorruption branch of ICC and looked forward to any support from them which was very crucial to the investigation into the telecast rights case.

The CBI on November 8 registered five cases against some Doordarshan officials for allegedly cheating the Prasar Bharti of crores of rupees in the award of telecast rights for cricket matches. The five cases relate to alleged bunglings in telecast rights for 1997 Independence Cup, ICC KnockOut tournament in 1998 played in Dhaka and the World Cup in 1999. The CBI alleged that some officials of Doordarshan had entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Bangalore-based WorldTel and Delhi-based Stracon India and dishonestly enhanced the bid for the telecast of the tournament. Referring to the alleged nexus between betting syndicates and underworld, the spokesman said "we are still looking into whether there is any link between match-fixing syndicate and organised crime syndicate in the country and abroad."

A Mumbai-based company has filed an appeal against a High Court order refusing to stay the decision of the Board to award a three-year contract for clothing sponsorship of Indian team in international matches to International Management Group and Transworld International combine (IMG-TWI).

The appeal was filed by proprietor of Gayatri Arts Sham Dhumatkar on Saturday in the Mumbai High Court and is likely to be heard within a week. Gayatri Arts had challenged BCCI's decision to award a contract to IMG-TWI by way of a petition in the High Court. The company claimed that it had made the highest bid of Rs 90 crore through a legal tender advertised by BCCI in a newspaper. Yet, the contract was awarded to the IMG-TWI combine.

Justice DK Deshmukh, hearing the petition, had, in an ad-interim order, refused to stay BCCI's decision. Gayatri Arts filed an appeal contending that the Judge had failed to take cognizance of the bid made by it which was higher than the one put up by IMG-TWI. Hence the award of contract to IMG-TWI was bad in law, improper and unjustified.

India's left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra, in the centre of a controversy after being disqualified for running onto the pitch on the third day of the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Saturday, was disappointed at the turn of events but vowed to come back stronger from the experience. "I bowled the way I had in the first innings. I am disappointed," said the paceman from Delhi.

Nehra was first given two official warnings by Zimbabwean umpire Russell Tiffin and several unofficial warnings by Australian umpire Daryl Harper. When he changed ends, he was first warned and then stopped from bowling by umpire Harper who gave him his cap and sweater after he had bowled just four balls and told him he could no longer bowl in the innings.

Zimbabwe were then 273 for seven and Nehra was in his 27th over. Team manager Chetan Chauhan said he was very disappointed at the turn of events. "He was our main bowler and bowled very well in this game. But we respect the umpire's decision and though he was not able to bowl again in this match, we will try to rectify the mistake in the next three-four days." Nehra bowled 11 overs in the first innings and picked up three wickets for 23 runs and took two more conceding 77 runs in the second before he was stopped while bowling his 27th over.

Dave Houghton, former Zimbabwean captain said if the idea was to create a rough for Harbhajan Singh, the bowling action of Nehra was unsuited for it. "I can understand a team playing two left-arm pacemen to create rough for the spinners. But Nehra was coming too close to the wicket. His footmarks on the wicket were not going to help an offspinner."