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November 18, 2000
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'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