Bindra submits documents focusing shady cricket deals

Bindra alleged that "unreasonable" amounts of money were made by players and the Board by playing in off-shore locations like Sharjah, Toronto, Dhaka and Singapore.

He also referred to the issue of allotment of telecast rights in his documents alleging that "big money" was made by middlemen, event managers and other cricket officials through "illegal" deals.

Bindra had stunned the cricketing world when he levelled charges of match fixing against former captain Kapil Dev, claiming Prabhakar had revealed the name to him.

The PCA President, however, admitted responsibility for signing the contract for an annual tournament in Toronto. He said that playing in these countries "help middlemen to fix matches" and up to some extent, the cricketers play "non-serious" cricket.

Bindra parried questions regarding the allegations against Kapil Dev.

Meanwhile, it was also the turn of Bindra bashers to make an attempt to hog the limelight and in the process expose the murky world of the cricket officiandos. Today, a few office-bearers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), addressed a press conference and termed Bindra’s allegations as "baseless and without any proof, maligning the Board and the players".

Their contention was that "nothing is wrong with the Board" and it is Bindra’s "frustration in not being able to win back the power" which is leading him to "say all sorts of wild allegations".

Among the many things which were said against Bindra, the most significant allegations were that his bills at a meeting held in Jaipur last year were paid by the owner of a television company and that bribes were offered to state unit members to vote for Bindra’s candidates.

Kishore Ranguta, treasurer of the Board, made the first allegation, saying: "His bills at the election meeting of the Board held in Jaipur last year were paid by the owner of a television company." Subsequently, Jyoti Vajpayee, joint secretary of the Board said, "Bribes were offered to a few state unit members to vote for Bindra’s candidates." But, Vajpayee refused to divulge who offered the bribe and to whom. When it was pointed out that the two were "behaving like Bindra and making unsubstantiated allegations", they replied: "We will reveal everything to the appropriate authorities."

The press conference rambled on with Kamal Morarka, vice-president of the Board, speaking at length about how Bindra should be the one probed for his "misdeeds" and how the Board, minus a few disgruntled elements, is one happy family and is "being managed well".