More and more problems for discredited players

There is a memorable scene in the 1967 Gene Kelly directed movie `A guide for the married man' in which Robert Morse, an expert in the field, is training rookie Walter Mathau to cheat on his (Mathau's) wife. During one unforgettable episode, Morse cautions Mathau that even if his wife knows about his infidelity or pretends to know, he should just `deny, deny, deny'.

One is reminded of Morse's advice to Mathau these days as the cricketers charged in the CBI report of betting and fixing matches are doing just that. Over the last two days, we have had first Ajay Jadeja denying any wrong doing in the affair, followed by Nayan Mongia and Ajay Sharma. Not to be left behind, even the foreign players named in the report have either denied any involvement or, as in the case of Brian Lara, remained tightlipped. Going back to the very beginning, it must not be forgotten that even Hansie Cronje at first vehemently denied the charges made against him by the Delhi police.

Every time one feels that the sordid match fixing episode is heading towards some sort of denouement, there comes another twist in the script. Perhaps Malcolm Gray, the incoming president of the ICC put things in proper perspective the other day when he said he was of the view that while ``we are getting to the bottom of it now, I can assure you that it is a lot deeper and has been a lot deeper and broader than anyone realised or expected. I suspect in the future we might get hit with more bad news.''

Really the way things are moving, there seems to be no end to cricket's long running soap opera which has been engaging the attention the world over for exactly seven months now. It would come as no surprise if the drama just went on and on but how it would end is anyone's guess. After all, it is worth noting that the central character in the drama, a certain Md Azharuddin, has not only not said anything but seems to have mysteriously disappeared. No one seems to know his whereabouts.

However dramatically the tainted players may deny any wrongdoing in the match fixing scandal and plead their innocence, there seems to be no early end to their problems. Troubles never come alone, it is said and the fact that the Income Tax department has now decided to proceed against them, after discovering a huge undisclosed income with some cricketers and bookies, is an indication that their denials amount to nothing. As if all this is not enough, senior IT officials have said they have found some ``new leads'' against a bookie who has emerged a key player in the case.

The debate continues whether the players and others named by the CBI in the report could be prosecuted but IT sources have indicated that they would go ahead with the cases of undisclosed and unaccounted income detected during the nation wide strike in July. According to IT sources, the department has almost finalised the appraisal report about the raids conducted on the premises of several leading cricketers, administrators and bookies.

Meanwhile, the CBI has asked the IT authorities to provide details of the assets of two cricketers - Md Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma - against whom the agency has not ruled out prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act as they were ``public servants.'' Special Director G Achari, who was overall in charge of the investigation into the match fixing scandal has already been quoted as saying ``we will pursue the case against the two players under the PCA and we will not allow the matter to rest. We are gathering more evidence against the two and are waiting for more inputs from the IT authorities. At some stage we may call them for further questioning.'' As if all this is not enough, Indian Minister of State for Sports Pon Radhakrishnan said in Chennai on Sunday that legal action against the five players would soon be initiated. Adopting a tough stance, he also said that the players should be stripped of honours and awards conferred on them.

The five cricketers have also been asked to appear before K Madhavan, former CBI director and the Board's Commissioner for Anti Corruption. Madhavan is expected to meet the five discredited players in about a week's time. The BCCI president AC Muthiah stated last week that the final action would be taken against the players on the basis of recommendations from Madhavan. Though Madhavan's suggestions will have to be approved by the Board's Disciplinary and Working committees, this is little comfort for the tainted players, given the Board's tough stance of late and their own manifold troubles.