Prabhakar appears, no word from Azhar
Former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar, who arrived in Madras on Saturday morning to appear before the Board for Control of Cricket in India's Inquiry Commissioner K Madhavan in connection with match-fixing charges, said, "The battle is over, but the war to cleanse the game is on."
Speaking to reporters before presenting himself for cross-examination by Madhavan on the findings of the Central Bureau of Investigation on match-fixing, Prabhakar, one of those indicted by the agency, however, alleged that the report is full of 'inaccuracies'.
Asked to explain, he said it was obvious that the CBI had not seen the video cassettes handed over to them by him. "The report also does not reflect the evidences that I gave during my examination," he added.
To a question whether he would present any new evidence to Madhavan, Prabhakar said, "It all depended on how fair the cross-examination is going to be."
Speaking to the media, Madhavan said there is no information as yet from former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who had also been summoned to appear before him.
Madhavan said Ajay Sharma would be examined in Delhi on Nov 14 as he had stated that he was not in a position to travel to Madras due to health reasons. He had submitted a doctor's certificate in this regard.
While Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia and former physio Ali Irani would appear for the cross-examination on Sunday, Ram Adhar, groundsman of Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla ground, had already been examined in Delhi a couple of days ago, Madhavan said.
Asked why Madras was chosen for the cross-examination, the former CBI officer cited the disturbance at the press conference held by Jadeja in Delhi recently, and said the BCCI wanted to avoid such incidents.
Besides, the number of media persons would also be higher had the examination been held in Delhi, he added.
Mail Cricket Editor
