>Dawnseeker2000 at 16:38, 13 November 2020

2020-11-13T16:38:55Z

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'''Indian Match-fixing Investigations (1997)''' summarises the events surrounding the allegations laid by [[Manoj Prabhakar]] of match fixing in a magazine. [[Board of Control for Cricket in India|BCCI]] instituted a commission to examine the charges. Based on lack of evidence, the commission dismissed all allegations.

==Prabhakar's allegations==
[[Manoj Prabhakar]] made a public allegation against an unknown team member to the magazine ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]'' in June 1997.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=19970611&fname=COVER+STORY&sid=2 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913231940/http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=19970611&fname=COVER+STORY&sid=2 | url-status=dead | archive-date=13 September 2012 | title=Prabhakar: 'I was offered Money' | publisher=Outlook India | date=11 June 1997 | accessdate=23 March 2007 }}</ref> BCCI instituted a one-man investigation commission headed by retired Chief Justice of India – Honorable [[Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/jun/21d.htm | title=Chandrachud committee to probe betting scam | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=21 June 1997 | accessdate=23 March 2007}}</ref> Specifically the following games were brought to light by Manoj Prabhakar as part of his allegations:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/jun/02c.htm | title=Chandrachud committee to probe betting scam | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=2 June 1997 | accessdate=2 April 2007}}</ref>

* India vs Pakistan in Sharjah in 1991. Even with fading light, the team management asked Prabhakar and [[Sanjay Manjrekar]] to continue playing after the umpires offered light. Pakistan won the match in the last over and qualified for the finals of the trophy.
* India vs Pakistan in Colombo (Singer Cup) in 1994. Manoj Prabhakar was offered Rs 2.5 million for sabotaging the match in Pakistan's favour. Manoj claims to have shouted the player out of his room. The match was washed away due to rain.
* India vs West Indies in Kanpur in 1994. [[Nayan Mongia]] and [[Manoj Prabhakar]] scored 11 runs in 48 balls chasing [[West Indies]] total. Both the players were dropped for the subsequent match on charges of indiscipline
* India vs Pakistan in Sharjah (Date: Unknown). Both the captains [[Aamir Sohail]] and [[Mohammad Azharuddin]] claimed winning the toss.

==Commission hearings==

BCCI wanted the commission to examine the following charges:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/ju1/01a.htm | title=Chandrachud gets his brief | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=28 June 1997 | accessdate=2 April 2007}}</ref>

* Was there any truth in the allegations by Manoj Prabhakar true?
* Was any Indian cricketer, official, journalist or any other person involved in betting and match fixing?
* Did [[Ajit Wadekar]] tap the telephones of Indian cricketers?
* Was there any truth in the bribery and match-fixing reports?

Justice Chandrachud started his inquiry on 7 July 1997. [[Manoj Prabhakar]], [[Kapil Dev]] and ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]'' magazine correspondent Krishna Prasad deposed to the judge on the first day.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/jul/07bet.htm | title=Prabhakar refuses to finger player as Chandrachud begins probe into betting scandal | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=7 July 1997 | accessdate=2 April 2007}}</ref> Manoj Prabhakar did not reveal names or provide evidence of his charges (Match Fixing and Phone Tapping allegation on then Cricket Manager [[Ajit Wadekar]]).<ref name="Chandrachudreport">{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/2000/apr/20report.htm | title=Full Report – '''Chandrachud Commission''' | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=20 April 2000 | accessdate=23 March 2007}}</ref>

Other people who appeared in front of the commission:
* 22 July 1997: [[Ajit Wadekar]], [[Ashok Mankad]], [[Dilip Vengsarkar]] and [[Sanjay Manjrekar]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/jul/22a.htm | title=Players appear in front of Chandrachud Commission | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=22 July 1997 | accessdate=3 April 2007}}</ref>
* 5 September 1997: [[Sachin Tendulkar]], [[Mohammad Azharuddin]], [[Sunil Gavaskar]], [[Nayan Mongia]] and D.V.Subba Rao (Manager – West Indies Tour)<ref>{{cite web | url=http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/74094.html | title=Azhar to discuss betting allegations scandal | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=5 September 1997 | accessdate=3 April 2007}}</ref>
* [[Ajay Jadeja]], [[Chandu Borde]], [[Sandeep Patil]], Sunil Dev (Manager – India Tour of South Africa), Makarand Waigankar (Journalist) and Dr. Ali Irani (Physiotherapist)
* Aniruddha Bahal (Principal Correspondent, ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]''), Lokendra Pratap Sahi (Sports Editor, [[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]), Bipin Dani (freelance journalist), SK Sham (Press Correspondent, [[Reuters]]), Pradeep Vijaykar (Assistant Editor, [[The Times of India]]), Pradeep Magazine (Sports Editor, Pioneer), H Natarajan (Sports Editor, [[The Indian Express]]) and R. Mohan ([[The Hindu]]) gave written statements to the commission

==Chandrachud Commission report==

Justice Chandrachud completed his inquiry in October 1997 and submitted the report on an undisclosed date to BCCI. When the match fixing controversy resurfaced in 2000, [[Board of Control for Cricket in India|BCCI]] released the Chandrachud Report to the media. The report concluded:

* There was no plausible reason why Manoj Prabhakar had to wait 3 to 6 years to report match-fixing allegations. [[Sanjay Manjrekar|Manjrekar's]] statement contradicted Prabhakar's on the events at Sharjah in October 1991. No evidence was provided with respect to the Singer Cup incident nor was a report made to the Captain, Coach or Vice-captain. Manoj's allegation against [[Aamir Sohail]] and [[Mohammad Azharuddin]] on the toss incident was factually incorrect as there was no match when these 2 cricketers captained their countries in Sharjah. Manoj Prabhakar refused to name the attempted briber in spite of assurances from the judge himself. The judge concluded that Manoj's allegation was a result of his getting back at Mohammad Azharuddin. The judge had no hesitation in rejecting the allegations made by Manoj Prabhakar.<ref name="Chandrachudreport"/>
* The judge accepted [[Ajit Wadekar]]'s statement on the phone-tapping allegation and dismissed the same.<ref name="Chandrachudreport"/>
* All of these inferences of journalist of match-fixing were not unjustified as the Judge himself believes that large amount of betting took place on cricket in India. But the Police said that it had not been possible for their investigating teams to identify any player or players in the Indian team who lay bets on cricket.<ref name="Chandrachudreport"/>

==Criticism==
There was criticism in the Indian media that the commission did not examine all facts available to it.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/oct/20a.htm | title=Not proven! | publisher=[[Rediff]] |date=20 October 1997 | accessdate=3 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/84505.html | title=Chandrachud report dismissed as 'old hat' | work=[[ESPNcricinfo]]|date=21 April 2000 | accessdate=3 April 2007}}</ref> Specific areas of concern for the media was the method of recording evidence, lack of initiative to dig into the disconnect in facts of the Aamir Sohail – Mohammad Azharuddin toss, lack of questioning and evidences against people involved in betting and match-fixing, not considering the tapes of interview by ''Outlook'' with Rashead Latif (where he named five Indian cricketers involved in match fixing and which he subsequently backed out).

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Indian cricket in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Cricket controversies]]

Chandrachud Commission - Revision history

>Dawnseeker2000 at 16:38, 13 November 2020