The day of judgement has arrived

After almost eight months of drama since the Delhi Police unearthed the match-fixing scandal, a stage has been reached where the case, which was marked by allegations and counter allegations, denials and law suits, soap operas and super sleuth style investigations, is apparently coming to an end with the guilty players facing punishment.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to ratify the proposed penalties imposed by the three-member disciplinary committee comprising board president AC Muthiah and vice-presidents Ram Prasad and Kamal Morarka on the cricketers found guilty of match-fixing at its special general body meeting in Calcutta on Wednesday.

The meeting is likely to be attended by representatives of all the affiliated units and will study the reports of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the BCCI's anti-corruption commissioner K Madhavan before finalising the punishment to the players named in the report.

The anti-corruption commissioner's report had found Azharuddin guilty of match-fixing while the others - Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma, barring Mongia, had a nexus with bookies without being involved in match-fixing.

On Tuesday, the five players appeared before the disciplinary committee in New Delhi's Taj Mansingh Hotel. Talking to reporters at the end of the meeting, Muthiah said the BCCI warned of 'strictest' punishment to those found guilty in the betting and match-fixing scandal. "Keeping the future of the game in country in mind, the guilty will receive the strictest punishment," Muthiah said. He added that the committee's recommendations would be placed before the meeting in Calcutta tomorrow.

Giving no time frame regarding the verdict on the players, Muthiah said "The General Body's verdict will be announced as soon as possible. It could be tomorrow itself, or a day or two later," adding that the Board was anxious to take the decision and make public the Madhavan report as early as possible. Muthiah said that Azhar had nothing to say about the Madhavan report but denied the CBI report, emphasizing he was an honest cricketer who brought fame to India.

Emerging from the meeting Ajay Jadeja said "I have not changed anything. What I have said at previous press conferences, I repeated to the board members." Asked for his comment on the verdict by the BCCI, Jadeja said "Let's wait and see." Both Ajay Sharma and Azharuddin refused to comment while the hero-turned-villain Manoj Prabhakar said he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Prabhakar said "I've just told them that during my cricket career I did nothing wrong. I left cricket in 1996 and everybody knows what I've been doing for the last four years," referring to his campaign against match fixing. Prabhakar said the charges in the BCCI report that he consorted with bookies were erroneous. The former Delhi player said "I met people at a health club. I did not make it my business to find out what they did for a living," adding that he had won in his "crusade" to cleanse Indian cricket.

Prabhakar's final words were "I am the winner at the moment. Maybe I lost one battle, but I won the war." Commenting on both the reports where Kapil Dev has been given clean chit, Prabhakar made clear his belief that there had been a cover-up. "Maybe they (BCCI) wanted to save someone very special," he said.

Azharuddin was whisked in and out through a back door of the hotel to avoid the waiting media and lensmen. On his way back he was seen smiling while getting into his car, while early birds Mongia and Irani walked in through the main door, Prabhakar was escorted by the hotel's security staff and Jadeja was taken in through a back door.