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Prabhakar himself is not above board, says Latif

Former Pakistani cricket captain Rashid Latif has said that former all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar, who has raked up the match-fixing scandal in India with his accusation against Kapil Dev, is himself "not above board".

In an interview with a Web site, naradonline.com, Latif said: "If Kapil did approach him with an offer, it could be because he [Kapil] knew Prabhakar was himself into the racket... What I mean is, if Prabhakar says Kapil approached him with a match-fixing offer or that he knew other players are involved in it, then he must have also at some time been part of this racket. An outsider can never tell or know when a team is fixing a match."

Latif recalled a 1994 incident when the Pakistani team was returning from New Zealand and was in transit through Singapore or Bangkok. "We came across Prabhakar who was either returning or going to New Zealand and he spoke to one of our players about the one-day international in Christchurch. I remember him telling that player he had heard about the circumstances in which we [Pakistan] lost that match and that he should be also told how to make some money like this," Latif is quoted as saying.

Asked if Prabhakar had sought the information to know how it was done, Latif says: "It is a documented fact that Prabhakar was suspended once by the Indian board for batting slowly in a match against the West Indies."

The former Pakistani player also questioned the delay on the all-rounder's part in revealing Kapil Dev's name, six years after the incident was alleged to have taken place. "If Kapil approached him in 1994, why did he wait for three years before first making his allegations in the press and a further three years before naming the person?" Latif said.

"Prabhakar only made his allegations against his teammate one year after being dumped from the Indian team. But take me and Basit Ali. We were regular members of the Pakistani team in 1995 when we decided to bring the issue before the people," he says.

The former Pakistani skipper says the Indian board should support anyone who wants to expose the betting nexus. "They should, if they want to clean up Indian cricket."

Latif was the first international player to expose the wrongdoing in the game, leading to a spate of inquiries all over the cricketing world, including the Justice Qayyum report in Pakistan which vindicated his claims. Following the release of the report a few days ago, the Pakistan Cricket Board banned Salim Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman for life.

UNI

The Betting Scandal: The full story