Paul guilty of tampering

The committee report would be tabled at the board Working Committee meeting slated for August 20-21 at New Delhi, according to board sources.

The sources said `the players would get a minimum of one year ban each from all domestic and international games and the umpires (DK Kar and PS Godbole) and match referee PR Punjabi also face some action’.

The sources said the Tamil Nadu and Delhi associations, both permanent members of the Working Committee, would not participate in the discussions onthe issue.

Reuben Paul when contacted denied the accusations and said he had not been involved in the incident while Ajay Sharma said he was not aware of the report.

Referring to the board having already scratched the teams from the 1997-98 Ranji Trophy competition, Ajay Sharma told PTI when contacted in Delhi: `I have done nothing wrong’.

During a break in a local league match in which he was playing, Paul told PTI in Chennai: “I am not guilty and I am being punished for something I was not involved with”.

He said “neither I nor my team members were aware of such an incident during the change of a ball”.

“I am innocent and such accusations against me are far from the truth,” Paul added.

The board would seek legal opinion before going to the Working Committee, the sources said.