VI. CONCLUSIONS

The enquiry conducted by CBI has disclosed the following:

• Small scale betting on cricket matches has been taking place in India for a long time. Betting on a major scale started only after India won the World Cup in 1983.

• Betting on cricket matches has been on the upswing ever since live telecast of cricket matches started on a regular basis.

• Betting on cricket matches in India has attained a measure of sophistication and it has spread across the length and breadth of the country. The use of computer and mobile phone has given a major fillip to this racket.

• Betting on cricket in India, in terms of monetary turn- over and volume of transactions, is perhaps the biggest organised racket. According to rough estimates, the turn-over, on account of betting on any One-Day International match anywhere in the world, runs into hundreds of crores.

• There are clear signals that the underworld mafia has started taking interest in the betting racket and can be expected to take overall control of this activity, if not checked immediately with a firm hand. It does appear that what may have been small-time wagering (which to some extent is inevitable) has now been replaced by an organised syndicate, and this syndicate has started interfering with the purity of the sport. It has been the negligence of the police and the other regulatory authorities, that has allowed wagering to turn into an organised racket, particularly with the involvement of the underworld mafia. The game has lost a considerable degree of its credibility already, and it will be a matter of national shame if the problems which are, to some extent apparent from the evidence gathered and narrated in the report, are not immediately and decisively resolved.

• With a large amount of money at stake in the betting racket on cricket, it makes sense for both bookies and punters to manipulate results of cricket matches. This has resulted in their developing a close and unholy relationship with cricketers.

• Ajay Sharma introduced Md.Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja to Bookie Mukesh Kr. Gupta @ M.K. @ John. He also introduced Mohd. Azharuddin to big time punter Ajay Gupta. Ajay Sharma received lakhs of rupees from M.K. and Ajay Gupta & Associates for this service. He also provided information regarding matches to M.K. Gupta and was also instrumental in getting a tailor-made pitch prepared for a Test Match on the instructions of M.K. for monetary considerations. The difficulties in gathering any concrete evidence to establish any of these facts in a court of law has been considerably accentuated by the lapse of time between the events and the investigation. If the matters had been investigated contemporaneously, perhaps far more effective results could have been attained.

• Manoj Prabhakar is close to a number of bookies and punters, namely, Mukesh Kr. Gupta @ M.K. @ John, Tipu Kohli, Anand Saxena, Rajesh Kalra, Sanjeev Chawla, Sunil Dara and Mashal, etc. He introduced a number of foreign players and also provided 'information' about Test Matches, One-Day Internationals, one Ranji Trophy Match to bookie M.K. Gupta @ John. For introducing the foreign players and providing 'information' regarding matches, he received large sums of money from M.K. and Tipu Kohli.

• Md. Azharuddin has fixed matches/performance for a bookie 'M.K. Gupta' @ 'M.K.' @ 'John' and big time punters Ajay Gupta and Associates, with the help of Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia. He has also received large sums of money running into lakhs from M.K. Gupta and Ajay Gupta and Associates directly and also on a number of occasions through Dr. Ali Irani, who was well aware of the activities of Md. Azharuddin and the reason for the payments. The involvement of the Captain of the cricket team is qualitatively different from the involvement of stray players, such as Ajay Sharma or even other important players. It is the Captain of the team who has to keep the closest watch on the game on the field. Besides, the involvement of the Captain, particularly in efforts to underperform, destroys the very ethos of the team event.

• Ajay Jadeja is very close to some bookies and big time Punters, namely, Uttam Chand @ Topi, Rattan Mehta, Rajesh Kalra, Krishan Kumar (implicated in the Hansie Cronje case). He gave 'assessment' of cricket matches to Rattan Mehta, a big time punter. He also passed on 'information' to bookie Uttam Chand @ Topi, for monetary considerations. He also met M.K. Gupta and offered his services for fixing matches and also received money from M.K.at this meeting. He is also named by Md. Azharuddin as one of the players who was with him in fixing matches.

• Nayan Mongia has been named by Md. Azharuddin as one of the players involved with him in fixing matches.

• Dr. Ali Irani was aware of the activities of Md. Azharuddin in fixing matches and also acted as a conduit for receiving payments on behalf of Azharuddin from M.K. & Associates. Azharuddin also paid him money on each occasion that he received payments on his behalf.

• A number of foreign players were introduced by Manoj Prabhakar to bookie M.K. Gupta @ M.K. @ John who either offered or paid money to them. Some of them are:

  (i) Alec Stewart,

  (ii) Brian Lara,

  (iii) Mark Waugh,

  (iv) Dean Jones,

  (v) Hansie Cronje,

  (vi) Arvinda D'Silva,

  (vii) Arjuna Ranatunga,

  (viii) Martin Crowe,

  (ix) Salim Malik.

• Asif Iqbal, former Cricket Captain of Pakistan, is close to Anil Steel, bookie of Mumbai. Asif Iqbal has, on occasions, provided information about cricket matches to Anil Steel and has also received gifts from him.

• Big time punter Rattan Mehta is extremely close to the entire Pakistan team who have even visited his restaurant in Vasant Vihar. He claims he is particularly close to Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Saeed Anwar. He also claims to have received opinion on matches from them and also having given 'small gifts' to Pakistan players on a few occasions.

• The 'bona fides' of the allegation of Manoj Prabhakar that he was offered Rs.25 lakhs by Kapil Dev to underperform in a cricket match against Pakistan during Singer Cup in Srilanka in 1994 has not been established.

• The BCCI has been the single biggest beneficiary of the enormous commercial success of the sport. It is a matter of record that the BCCI earns substantial sums from media exposure of the game -- which media exposure is in fact responsible for the qualitative change that has come about in the entire scenario. It would be the elementary duty of anybody purporting to be the apex regulatory body of a sport, to keep a close watch on the performance of the team, and to thoroughly investigate into the slightest gossip, leave alone suspicion, of any malpractice.

• The BCCI, however, did not care to even investigate allegations which were bound to have been within their knowledge (for example, where there was a serious controversy over a slowdown in the run rate in the Kanpur one-dayer, 1994). Although, there is no concrete evidence to suggest the direct involvement of any of the members of the BCCI in match fixing, their resolute indifference does give rise to suspicion that there was perhaps more than that meets the eye. It defies credulity to believe that the apex body was oblivious to such rampant match fixing and, therefore, did not find the need to investigate thoroughly the results of matches which are patently questionable.

• The appointments of professionals like coaches, physiotherapists, selectors are made more or less in an arbitrary manner. Names are suggested by the members of the BCCI and its affiliate Units whose knowledge and insight into cricket is questionable.

• Although the BCCI today is cash rich, it does appear that, over the years, it has undersold Indian Cricket with regard to guarantee money, etc.

• BCCI is in control of huge amounts of public funds without any concomitant rules, regulations/laws that govern the manner in which public funds are to be utilised. There is no accountability of any office-bearer of the BCCI similar to the one imposed on public servants when dealing with public funds.

• There are many facets of match fixing and related malpractices in cricket which need further investigation. In order to unravel the entire sordid nexus between the cricket players, bookies and punters, the CBI enquiry will continue.

The crisis facing cricket today is very different and far more sinister than the 'body line' controversy. Cricket, as it is played at present, does not appear to be the same game played by Sir Don Bradman or Neville Cardus wrote about. The romanticism associated with the game is perhaps gone for ever. Increasingly, in the playing fields around the world, the music of a sweetly timed stroke is being replaced by the harsh cacophony of ringing cell phones. Both inducements and threats to players are bound to increase in view of the big money involved in gambling on cricket and the entry of the underworld. Major corrective steps need to be taken to put cricket back on rails.

© CBI