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Manoj told me, admits Shastri

Former Test star-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri today told a website that Manoj Prabhakar had, in fact, told him about Kapil Dev's alleged attempt to bribe him in a limited overs series in Sri Lanka in 1994.

Speaking to www.total-cricket.com, Shastri, who was a television commentator for that series, said, "Manoj did speak to me about exactly this during the tour in Colombo in 1994. My advice to Manoj was clear -- to inform his team management."

The statement from Shastri really sets the cat among the pigeons, in a way that Manoj Prabhakar's own public outing of Kapil Dev's name could not.

There were two issues inherent in Prabhakar's allegation. One, that given the fact that the alleged conversation between Kapil Dev and Prabhakar took place in the absence of other witnesses, it essentially boiled down to one person's word against the others.

And secondly, a question that was repeatedly asked was why Prabhakar had waited all these years before coming up with the name. To this, Prabhakar had responded that thus far, no official or body in the country had shown the least interest in knowing the name; that no one had come forward to provide him the protection he sought, and therefore he had thought it politic to remain silent.

However, Prabhakar added, he had not exactly stayed silent at the time. He went on to mention that he had informed the likes of team manager Ajit Wadekar and captain Mohammad Azharuddin about the approach, and had also, as he was entering the ground for the final of that series, spotted Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar, both of them doing television duty for the series, and informed them about the approach.

It has not been possible to locate Mohammad Azharuddin for his reaction -- his mobile number appears to have been changed.

Ajit Wadekar spoke to Rediff readily enough, but only to say that he has already deposed before the CBI, he has told them all he knows, and cannot make any public comment for now.

Prashant Vaidya, who Prabhakar said shared the adjoining room with Nayan Mongia during that particular tour, told Rediff that to the best of his knowledge, he knew nothing of the incident.

"I agree I stayed next door along with Mongia (Nayan), but to the best of my knowledge, nothing like that happened.

"I'm surprised; I don't know why my name has been dragged into this," he said.

Mongia -- another person who, according to Prabhakar, was in the know of things has indicated a marked reluctance to take telephone calls.

Sunil Gavaskar is in the UK and, at this present, not available on the telephone.

Into which scenario, enter Shastri, with his statement that Prabhakar was not lying about having contemporaneously informed him of the offer.

Shastri's corroboration does not in itself prove Prabhakar's accusation. However, it does tend to give it added heft. Thus, a forceful argument put forward thus far -- that Prabhakar was venting his spleen after losing his place in the side, and that was why he was talking of imagined events of the past -- no longer holds good. For it turns out that Prabhakar had indeed talked of the offer way back in 1994 -- at a time when he was very much a member of the Indian team.

Related stories:

"God knows it's Kapil!"

'Only the guilty cry', says Prabhakar

The Betting Scandal: The full story