CBI meets Sachin for `informal chat’

In a late-night, handwritten fax to this newspaper, to “give a true pictureof the meeting”, Sachin said: “Being a former India captain and one of theseniormost members of the team, Mr Savani and Mr Ganapathy of the CBI wantedto have an informal chat with me. We had a brief meeting at my residenceyesterday (Wednesday).

“During our meeting, they wanted to know about certain aspects of the game,for instance, relations between players, atmosphere in the dressing room,whether outsiders are permitted in the dressing room, etc. They alsodiscussed with me the plusses and minuses of the game and my suggestions tobring improvement in the game.”

The CBI was apparently re-checking some circumstantial details with himsince he has been in the team as a member and captain during some of thecrucial matches that now the CBI is taking a serious look at.

While Sachin was extremely sensitive about the fact that the meeting withthe CBI should not be misconstrued ahead of the start of a new season, theCBI also was taking pains to keep it extremely low-key. That’s why while allthe other players against whom there are direct or indirect allegations weresummoned to the agency’s Delhi office for questioning, the CBI team flewdown to Mumbai for a quiet chat with Sachin.

When contacted in Delhi, Savani, who admitted he was in Mumbai on Wednesday,however, denied he met Sachin. It was Sachin, however, who responded to amessage on his answering machine from this reporter and confirmed themeeting after initial hesitation. He then immediately faxed the statementjust past 11:30 pm and called our office to find out if the fax had beenreceived.

Meanwhile, in Delhi on Thursday, the CBI called Kapil Dev. After thequestioning, a beaming Kapil Dev said he was “very happy” and relieved.