Match-fixing — CBI queries Wadekar, Sidhu

The agency would also examine Kapil Dev over the charge levelled by Prabhakar, the sources said.

Prabhakar claimed that the offer was made in presence of his hotel room-mate Sidhu and following his angry outburst wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia and teammate Prashant Vadiya also rushed in and were witness to the commotion.

He also alleged he had reported the matter to the then team manager Wadekar and ex-skippers Gavaskar and Shastri.

Shastri today confirmed to a website that Prabhakar had indeed told him about the incident but others have not yet gone public on the issue.

Shastri, who was a TV commentator for that tournament, told total-cricket.com from London, “Manoj did speak to me about exactly this during the tour in Colombo in 1994. My advice to Manoj clear cut was to inform the team management”.

Wadekar, who appeared before the investigating agency a few days ago in Mumbai, maintained today that whatever he had to say he had told CBI and earlier to the Chandrachud Committee which had gone into the charges of match-fixing.

Sidhu also appeared before the investigating agency a couple of days ago but was not available for his reaction.

Some reports said he was in Delhi but his family sources in Punjab said he had gone to Mumbai for a meeting with a sports television channel and would return to Delhi and head straight for his home town Patiala.

Prabhakar during his 90-minute deposition before CBI has alleged that his exit from the Indian cricket team was only due to the rejection of the offer in 1994.

CBI will soon procure the tapes, which allegedly contain conversation about match-fixing, from Mumbai police and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the sources said.

An application for the procurement of these tapes has been moved and the agency is hopeful of getting them soon, the sources said.

The Crime Branch of Mumbai police and DRI stumbled upon conversation about fixing of a match in 1995 while solving a case of kidnapping of a businessman in the metropolis, the sources claimed.

CBI has also prepared a list of persons to be questioned and may send teams to different places in the country and abroad, the sources said.

They also hinted that help of some foreign investigating agencies would be sought wherever the need arose.

The match-fixing inquiry by the special crime branch of the agency will cover all the allegations levelled by some cricketers and members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the past.

The Government, after asking CBI to probe the matter on May 2, has empowered it to probe any other angle to the raging scandal.