Indian and Sri Lankan cricket boards have reacted to allegations of corruption by India's federal police agency. India's cricket board will cross-examine five domestic players, a team physiotherapist and a groundsman charged with fixing matches in a report by the country's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI last week named former captain Mohammad Azahruddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Ajay Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar and physiotherapist Ali Irani in a match-fixing report.
Inquiry Commissioner for the Board of Cricket Control in India, K Madhavan said: "The players should be given a chance to say how far they agree with the CBI report and where, according to them, there are errors. If there are errors, why so."
Madhavan added a groundsman at Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla ground, who had been charged by the CBI with doctoring the pitch for a Test match in 1996, would be cross-examined.
CBI sources, meanwhile, said the federal agency was in touch with inland revenue officials for information they had collected during raids in July in homes and offices of players, bookies and board officials.
In Sri Lanka, cricket officials have appointed a prominent lawyer to look into CBI allegations that two of the country's former captains, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva, were also involved in match-fixing.
Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) president Thilanga Sumathipala said Desmond Fernando would investigate. He said Fernando would "look into questions arising from the CBI report and to advise the BCCSL as to whether there is prima facie evidence of violation of the rules of the board".
Sumathipala said the report would also be given to the Sri Lankan sports minister "for him to take appropriate action under . . . the prevailing laws in the country".
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)