I expected better reward — Manoj

New Delhi, December 5: ``I expected a better reward from the BCCI for having blown the lid off the match-fixing scandal and trying to resc...

New Delhi, December 5: “I expected a better reward from the BCCI for having blown the lid off the match-fixing scandal and trying to rescue the game from the malaise,” were the first comments of Manoj Prabhakar, who has been slapped a five-year ban by the Board for his `involvement’ with bookies/punters.

The former India all-rounder hit out at the Board for `equating’ him with Ajay Jadeja against whom there were “far graver allegations and findings.” He said even the BCCI’s anti-corruption commissioner K Madhavan and the CBI found no evidence against him of receiving money from bookies or of under-performance.

“The only count on which I have been found guilty by Mr Madhavan is of having contact with bookies,” he said and claimed that those contacts were made for purposes of investigation “long after I had retired from competitive cricket.”

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He wished the former office-bearers of the Board, notably Jagmohan Dalmiya and the then cricket manager Ajit Wadekar had been more sincere and keen to come down on match-fixing in 1994 itself when he first raised the issue.

“Yet, no matter what the Board does now, I believe my efforts to bring match-fixing to light have paid off,” Prabhakar said.

Arbitrary, says Ajay Sharma:Reacting to the ban, Ajay Sharma said: “I just cannot believe it. On the face of it, the BCCI decision is arbitrary and discriminatory.”

He said he was awaiting detailed orders of the BCCI. “I will consult my lawyers for further action after receiving the copy of orders from the BCCI.”

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