Kapil vs Prabhakar: The battle intensifies

The match-fixing allegations over the past few weeks and especially the last couple of days has seen a see-saw battle going on between a resurgent Indian coach Kapil Dev and his detractors. Like cricket itself, this is turning out to be a game of glorious uncertainties. So far only one of the seven players named by Manoj Prabhakar has come out in open to support the claim of the former Indian all rounder.

Meanwhile Sidhu, who was the roommate of Prabhakar and supposed to be a prime witness to the whole episode during the 1994 Singer Series Cup in Colombo, in a statement to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given a guarded reply. Sidhu has more or less confirmed Prabhakar's earlier statement. The Punjab player has said "he was not present when the 'offer' was made but he had come to know about it from Prabhakar."

Ravi Shastri, a former Indian captain who confirmed Prabhakar's allegation yesterday, clarified his stand on the issue today. Talking to a cricket website, he said "If someone comes to you with a scandalous piece of information, you are not going to be foolish to tom-tom this to the world." He added "I have the highest regard for Kapil Dev as a cricketer. When Manoj came to me with the news, I found it extremely hard to believe it and the only advice I could give him was to take this to the team management."

On Thursday evening, the 'Haryana Hurricane' showed the same temperament that he used to display during his cricketing career, especially when his team was down. Unlike his previous appearance on TV where he became emotional and openly sobbed, Kapil was in an aggressive mood saying "I will play hard now and make the truth come out." Speaking to the press in New Delhi yesterday, Kapil said "I am a patriot and a son of the soil who has risen in life by dint of hard work and not through crooked means." He said "all I can say is that I am either being made the target of a deep rooted conspiracy or personal jealousy or animosity."

The former Indian captain blasted the yorkers sent down by Prabhakar by challenging the former Delhi allrouunder to prove his credentials which Kapil said were suspect. Kapil said "How can you (the media) give any importance to what a person like Prabhakar says? He has no guts. Otherwise, he will fight me in the open and not keep running away from me." Kapil added Prabhakar had a warrant in his name in Uttar Pradesh in connection with some business deal.

Challenging Prabhakar to an one-to-one debate Kapil said "I am a son of Punjab, how dare he come in front of me. I am a Punjabi and I drank my mother's milk. If he has guts, let him come out in the open" and added "How will he face me? I will give him one tight slap."

On his offer to Prabhakar to play badly, Kapil said "Why would I offer him money to play badly. He was never such a good player for me to offer him money to play badly. A friend of mine said to me just the other day that he could see me offering Prabhakar money to play well rather than play badly."

Asked about Ravi Shastri confirming Prabhakar's claim, Kapil replied "Where was Shastri all these years? And what about those who have refuted Prabhakar's story. What about Sunil Gavaskar, Prashant Vaidya, Nayan Mongia and Navjot Sidhu who have called Prabhakar's bluff?"

On whether he will continue to be the coach, the answer from the cricketing icon was "Should I leave the team in the lurch just because someone makes a reckless charge. I am now even more determined to perform my duty." Kapil's parting words to a question whether he would clear his name were "I? Clear my name? My name is clean. Why do I have to clear it?"

In Nagpur, Prashant Vaidya, a former Indian player named by Prabhakar to be a witness to the incident categorically denied being present during the offer made by Kapil. Speaking to a news agency. Vaidya said "Statements in newspapers about my presence during the alleged incident are not true. I have only to state that I am neither aware, nor have I noticed any such incident of which Prabhakar was talking about."

Former Indian captain GS Ramchand has asked Kapil to step down as Indian coach till he clears his name. He said "It will be very hard for Kapil to concentrate on the job of team coach now. As far as the credibility is concerned I would rate Kapil a hundred times higher than Prabhakar. However, to be fair to every one, the teammates who Prabhakar says witnessed the incident in Sri Lanka in 1994 should come out with the truth."

Former Indian wicketkeeper Naren Tamhane echoed the same sentiment as Ramchand stating "If I were in Kapil's shoes I would accompany the team to Dhaka only after my name has been cleared from all controversies." He added "At the same time I feel Wadekar, Azharuddin and Sidhu should come out openly and say whether Kapil offered Prabhakar money or not."

Balwinder Sandhu, a member of the World Cup winning squad in 1983 said "I don't think Kapil is involved in the raging match-fixing controversy in any way at all."

In another development the BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele denied Prabhakar's claim that he (Lele) had revealed the names of two more Indian cricketers who were involved in fixing matches. ``When I met Lele in Baroda on May 6, he mentioned two more names saying they were also involved," Prabhakar had earlier said. Lele, refuting Prabhakar's claim, said "I never revealed any names when he came to meet me in Baroda and invited me for a product launch of his cosmetics company."

Meanwhile, the CBI said they were examing the reports that have appeared and added "All the people who have been named by Prabhakar, including Kapil, will in all probability be examined." The CBI has so far questioned former BCCI chief IS Bindra, DDCA official Sunil Dev, former Indian manager Ajit Wadekar and former Test opener Navjot Sidhu so far in the match-fixing and betting scandal.