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BCCI has an 'informal get-together'

Faisal Shariff in Delhi

The press conference on the second afternoon of the two-day meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in Delhi, began on a wrong note.

Earlier, Board secretary Jayawant Lele had said an emergency meeting of the general body would be held on the second day. However, BCCI president A C Muthaiah revealed today that it was only an informal get-together, as he had invited the general body to appraise them of the situation, and apologised for the lack of 'proper communication'.

The media was in for another surprise when Muthaiah, sitting alongside Lele and joint secretary Manoj Bajpai, began the conference by repeating what he had said yesterday. Disclosing little information about what transpired during the half-day meeting today, he reasserted that he had repeatedly asked Inderjit Singh Bindra to name the players allegedly involved in betting while on the tour of England, when he was BCCI president. He said he also asked Bindra to name the Pakistan Board secretary who had told him that four Indian players had been 'bought' for the tie in Sharjah, between India and New Zealand.

Bindra, he said, refused to divulge any names and instead asked him to go through the Pakistan Cricket Board's records to ascertain the secretary's name.

According to Muthaiah, Bindra reiterated he is under oath by the Central Bureau of Investigation and would not reveal anything further.

Muthaiah disclosed that the Board would reimburse players and administrators who filed cases to clear their names of wrongdoing. Asked if he would do the same if Bindra asked the Board to bear the expenses in the case against him filed by Kapil Dev, Muthaiah replied in the affirmative.

Smiling at the irony of the situation, he said the person who lost the case would have to reimburse the Board.

Asked if he believed there is match fixing in India, he replied: "I don't believe that there is match-fixing."

Muthaiah also spoke about the four managers's reports allegedly citing wrongdoing by players, which Bindra had spoken of in interviews recently. He said the managers in question had denied ever making any allegations, in writing or orally, against any player.

Bajpai, who was the manager on the tour to Sharjah, added that he had not made such a statement to Bindra, the then Board president.

Muthaiah revealed that the Board wanted Indian cricket to go the Australian way and have between 20 to 30 players on a two or three year contract.

He also announced that three players would be sent to Australia for a six-week orientation course. However, he did not name the players.

Asked why Bindra was absent from Saturday's meeting, he replied that Bindra had excused himself, citing a prior commitment.

The president said the commitment to the knock-out tournaments in Kenya and Sharjah in October would be fulfilled. But he replied in the affirmative when asked if participation in such tournaments would be reconsidered from there on.

Asked if the Board would pay for the three cases that International Cricket Council president Jagmohan Dalmiya had filed against three publications, Muthaiah claimed if he was filing the case in England it would be in his capacity as ICC chief, and as such the ICC would pay for it. "If he is fighting the case in his capacity as a Board member, then the case would be fought by the BCCI."