'More than me, it is the players
and the officials who are satisfied with their responses'
Onkar Singh in Delhi
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's vigilance commissioner K Madhavan on Saturday examined former
Delhi captain Ajay Sharma at the National Security Guards guest house, near the Indira Gandhi International airport. The examination, which began at 9 in the morning, concluded at around 5.20 in the evening, when Ajay Sharma authenticated his statements in a 15-page document, which was typed and retyped till he was satisfied with the text.
This was disclosed by K Madhavan at a press conference, at the Press Club of India in Delhi, on Saturday evening.
Asked why the meeting point was kept a secret, Madhavan said: "I had to resort to this because earlier
some of the players had bad experiences when they
appeared in public. I wanted Ajay Sharma to feel
comfortable. Right through the examination he felt
confident. I would not say that he was nervous."
Madhavan said he completed recording of the statements of Manoj Prabhakar, Nayan Mongia, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, groundsman Ram Adhar and phyiso Ali
Irani, all indicted in the CBI report on match-fixing.
"Now, from tomorrow onwards I will reassess
the material at my disposal and start writing my
report, which I will be presenting to the board on
November 25.
"You could add a day or two, or subtract
it from the deadline. I have been meeting deadlines of
this nature right through my long career with the CBI and
I see no reason why I will not be able to complete it
before November 25," he explained.
Asked if he is still keeping his options of calling Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar and Navjot Singh
Sidhu open, Madhavan said he will decide on
the matter in the next couple of days.
"If I do intend to call any of these players then I will let the
media know about it," he said.
Could his report be different from the one written by the CBI?
"If I had to submit the same report which the
CBI has submitted then I could have taken a copy of
the report and signed it and sent it back to the
board. But this is not what I am doing. Naturally,
when I write my report it will differ because I will write my impressions of the whole thing and what I
have assessed. The players, when they went to CBI, they
did not know what interpretation the CBI is going to
make out of what they had told the agency. Now they
know what the CBI has done.
"The BCCI appointed me to talk to these players and others who were named in the report. I have
talked to them and given them a patient hearing. Some
of the players have also given documents. They know
what statements they have given to me. Now I will sit
down and write my report, and the BCCI will meet on
November 29 and take a decision on it, in Calcutta.
"I am making one thing clear: I am not recommending any
punishment, because this is what the board has to
decide. They can accept my report in toto or reject it
in toto. Once it is given to the BCCI it is for the board
to decide what action to take and what action not to
take against the players named in the CBI report,"
Madhavan said.
The CBI, in its report on match-fixing, has made some observations about the BCCI; have you asked the BCCI to
clarify the position?
"I had met the board president on November 12 and asked him to give clarifications on
the criticism of the board by the CBI. The CBI had
said that the board knew something was going on
but it did not take timely action. I hope the board
clarification would come in next couple of days," he
added.
Are you satisfied with the responses of the players
and other officials?
"More than me, it is the players
and the officials who are satisfied with their
responses," he said.
Would you take the report given by Justice Chandrachud
into consideration while writing your report?
"I would mention the Justice Chandrachud report in my
response," he clarified.
Mail Cricket Editor
