Will CBI report usher in a new dawn in Indian cricket?

It is not yet over but September 2000 will go down as one of the most turbulent and dramatic months in the history of Indian cricket. But then as industrialist Henry Ford once said "When I can't handle events, I let them handle themselves."

First it was the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection meeting on September 2 and subsequent dropping of `tainted players' from the list of probables for the ICC Knockout Trophy to be played in Nairobi. Then came BCCI president AC Muthiah's confirmation that the board was looking for a foreign coach. This was followed by Indian coach Kapil Dev's visit to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Muthiah's charge sheet in the SPIC disinvestment case. And to top it all came the drama surrounding the exit of Kapil as coach.

But wait. There are still more than ten days to go. And on the face of it, the selection committee meeting in Chennai on September 21 to pick the team for the Nairobi tourney, the Board's AGM also scheduled to be held in Chennai on September 29 and 30 and the CBI's interim report on match fixing scheduled to be made public by September 29 promise to end the month with pyrotechnics.

This week has also seen King Commission prosecutor Shamila Batohi's visit to India to meet various agencies. Much hype has already been created round the CBI's preliminary report. With about ten days left for the submission of the report, the reaction has been predictably speculative. Even before the report has been submitted, four players have been dropped and the coach, pushed to the wall, resigned. Unfortunately these developments have not really affected the officials, who continue to be in their seats.

There have been passing remarks from both, Union Sports Minister SS Dhindsa and his deputy Shahnawaz Hussain. There have already been reports quoting the ministers and the CBI director saying that a few Indian and foreign players are indeed involved in the Hansiegate scam. RK Raghavan, director of India's premier investigative agency told reporters in New Delhi on Sept 15 that "We are burning midnight oil to complete the task of finishing the report. We are working on the final draft which would be a comprehensive one." Adding more fuel to the burning speculative fire while replying to a question on the possible involvement of any Indian player, Raghavan said "there may be one or two" but he was quick to add "it will be dishonest on my part to say that I have come to that conclusion."

Earlier in the month, Shahnawaz Hussain said "many icons of Indian cricket could fall from the pedestal once the CBI wraps up its probe into betting and match-fixing.'' Hussain added that the report ``is also likely to point an accusing finger at some other bigwigs associated with the game.''

But, there are a few ifs which are still unanswered. First, what if the names of the so called `tainted players' do not figure in CBI's interim report? How will the board and government then react? How are they going to repay the players who have undergone mental agony? If the report contains names of some officials, how will they deal with them? If a few foreign players are also named, how will the CBI and the Indian government handle the situation? Will the players who have been dropped be reinstated into the team? If at all they are recalled, what happens to the merit theory then? These are intriguing questions that need to be answered by those concerned. Given this possible situation, the scenario surrounding the interim report is all the more intriguing.

The CBI has admitted that there are legal tangles related to the scandal. Having played to the gallery on the report, the government would hope that the CBI has made some progress in the case. But more importantly, anxious fans are looking forward to the report to see whether the agency has unearthed the rotten root that has shaken the tree and restore the game's lost credibility. One hopes that the report does not disappoint like so many `findings' in the past.