Azhar out forever; Jadeja, Manoj for 5 yrs

While Azhar and Sharma have been debarred from holding any position in the International Cricket Council or the Board or its affiliated associations for life others have been barred for five years. They will also be denied benefit matches and the Board’s contribution to the players fund.

“The disciplinary committee is of the considered opinion that the players and the physiotherapist have conducted themselves in a manner which is prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket… In taking its decision, the disciplinary committee has also kept in mind the contributions made by the players and the physiotherapist to the game,” the Board said in a release adding the decision was unanimous.

The Board’s action comes in the wake of the CBI report into betting and match-fixing and the subsequent Madhavan report which confirmed the CBI findings except in the case of Mongia. The Board allowed the players and Irani to appeal to it against the punishment awarded to them.

Announcing the decision, Board President A C Muthiah said it was being communicated to all concerned by the Board Secretary Jaywant Lele. Today’s disciplinary committee meeting was attended by Muthiah and K M Ram Prasad while the third member and Board Vice President Kamal Morarka, who favoured a soft line on the tainted players, was absent.

As the match-fixing scandal rocked the cricketing world, the government asked the CBI to investigate the entire gamut of the case. The agency completed its probe in about six months and named five cricketers including Mongia but cleared the name of Kapil Dev who had been accused of bribery for match-fixing by Prabhakar.

On submission of the CBI report to the government, the Board appointed K Madhavan, a former joint director of the CBI as its anti-corruption commissioner to conduct a probe based on the premier investigative agency’s report.

The Board’s disciplinary committee first considered the Madhavan report in Delhi on November 28 and the matter then went to the special general body meeting of the BCCI the following day in Calcutta. The meeting authorised the disciplinary committee to decide the quantum of punishment amid reports of pulls and pressures to adopt a lenient approach to the affected players.