Oh no Prabhakar, we are all tired of it!

Manoj Prabhakar has always got his timing wrong for one reason or the other. Having first created ripples some time ago by alleging that he was offered a bribe, the former Indian all rounder has been vocal on an inquiry on the match-fixing and betting issue since 1997. When the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was handed over the case, he became silent and inaccessible ever since the agency commenced its work. Now suddenly Prabhakar has woken up from his slumber to come out and say he wants to meet the CBI. Have the circumstances over the last few weeks forced Prabhakar to speak out or is he trying to put presure on the Indian team and its players?

More likely, Prabhakar has been forced to make the announcement following the strong statements made by Union Sports Minister SS Dhindsa and BCCI president AC Muthiah asking him to meet the officials and reveal all he knows. Having been tight-lipped for the past few weeks now, Prabhakar has chosen to meet the officials at the time when the Asia Cup is likely to be played. Prabhakar now has said he is going to spill the beans to the investigators and also call for a press conference. He said "I will go public in a week's time and I will also meet officials after seeking an appointment," He said he would approach the CBI on his own if the investigating agency failed to get in touch with him.

Is the motive behind Prabhakar's move to try and put pressure on the players to perform below par and thereby keep the grind mill working overtime? Already under pressure because of the allegations, it took some time for the team and especially coach Kapil Dev to get into the right frame of mind. Both captain Sourav Ganguly and Kapil Dev said early last week that the Indian team had prepared both physically and mentally for the Asia Cup tournament starting May 28. With the fans all over the world looking forward for the event, Prabhakar's recent press statement comes as a dampner to all.

If Prabhakar was so keen to come out with the truth he should have named the player who offered him Rs.25 lakhs to underperform in 1994. Instead he chose to hide behind the screen and reportedly revealed the name of former Indian captain Kapil Dev to former BCCI president IS Bindra and the Union Home minister LK Advani.

Later he neither confirmed nor denied when both Bindra and Advani admitted that Prabhakar named the 'Haryana Hurricane' forcing Bindra on the back foot when the CBI asked the former BCCI chief to produce evidence on his allegations. Now Prabhakar has said he will talk about Bindra's claim at a press conference soon. Like his Pakistani counterparts Rashid Latif and Salim Malik, Prabhakar too has started talking of taking the horse to the pond by its nose but has avoided to do so.

Prabhakar has also said that the board was putting pressure on him to express regret on the allegations levelled by him. Commenting on AC Muthiah's warning, the former Delhi allrounder said "I have done no wrong. They (BCCI) wanted me to say sorry," and asked, "Sorry for what? I have not done anything wrong against the board, neither did I say anything against it". Earlier on Sunday, the BCCI president AC Muthiah had said "I can promise you that if Prabhakar is not telling the truth, then he will face stiff action from the board,"

The CBI is on the job, the board has pledged its support to its players and has given them a clean chit for the time being. Cricket fans in the country are tired of reading and hearing allegations, It's high time that comments from Prabhakar need not be given undue importance. Instead one should just ignore the remarks as the outpourings of a troubled individual trying to hog the limelight time and again!