Indian news round-up

Manoj Prabhakar's guard attacked: A security guard at the residence of former Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar in South Delhi, was allegedly manhandled by a group of hooligans in the wee hours of Saturday. According to the guard Kanshi Ram Sharma, seven persons approached him at 2:15 am (IST) and enquired about Prabhakar and "threatened to kill me and my boss."

Sharma said when he tried to blow his whistle, the miscreants beat him before fleeing. Sharma has registered a complaint with the police. The police officials said "we are looking into the matter," according to PTI.

The attack comes nearly a month after a group of Shiv Sainiks pelted stones at a beauty clinic run by Prabhakar's wife in south Delhi protesting against the cricketer's alleged involvement in matchfixing. "This is the beginning of our crusade against corruption. The corrupt are traitors and they should be hanged," Sena's Delhi unit Chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal had said at that time. According to PTI, when Police was asked on Saturday whether the hooligans could be from the Delhi Unit of Shiv Sena, they said "we are probing that angle also".

Former Indian captain Ajay Jadeja has said he intends to appeal in court against his punishment after making a last-ditch appeal before the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Participating in Star TV's `Janata Ki Adalat' programme, Jadeja when questioned why he had not approached the courts if he was innocent, said in Hindi that the CBI had not registered a case in court. The CBI went to the BCCI, who have made a code of conduct of their own and now they have announced a punishment and have given us a final chance to appeal, he said. "So I cannot approach the court yet, as I still have an appeal pending. The day my appeal is turned down, I will definitely go to court and fight my case."

On charges about using political connections, Jadeja said, "I would say I was punished only because the media highlighted my political connections. How do you say it is not a life ban for me? Some players don't play, others have retired, yet they have been given five year bans. What does this mean?"

Jadeja revealed that former Indian captain Md Azharuddin had told him during the Disciplinary Committee hearings, that he never told CBI that Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia had helped him to fix matches. He said he did not know Kishan Kumar and had never spoken to him during matches. He acknowledged acquaintance with Rajesh Kalra and Ratan Mehta socially, who he said visited the same health club and restaurants as him.

Kashinath Khidkikar of Maharashtra will lead the Rest of India team in the MA Chidambaram Trophy match against Cooch Behar Trophy champions Haryana, to be played from January 17 to 20, 2001. The team was selected after the Cooch Behar Trophy final which concluded at Pune on Saturday.

The other members of the team: D Rao (Andhra, vice captain), Arvindam Das (Bengal), Mohnish Mishra (Madhya Pradesh), Gaganinder Singh (Punjab), Parthiv Patel (Gujarat, wicketkeeper), Sabhumay Das (Bengal), Maninder Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Dharmichand (Karnataka), Tushar Shah (Tripura), Gagandeep Singh (Punjab), Kiran Adhav (Maharashtra), Steve Largers (Karnataka), OP Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Surendra Singh (Railways). Stand byes: SK Trivedi (Gujarat), Deepak Chougle (Karnataka), M Faiq (Andhra), ASK Verma (Andhra), SP Singh (Punjab), R Banik (Tripura), Amit Onihal (Punjab).