Muthiah maintains Indian cricket is clean

It was only the other day that BCCI president AC Muthiah said that Indian cricket was clean, inviting some derisive comments. Undeterred by this, Muthiah still maintains his stand, saying there is no evidence to suggest corruption in Indian cricket. In an interview in Paris, where he has gone on a business trip, Muthiah said that anyone with information should go to the CBI.

``Nothing has been established so far. Everybody is saying so many things. Let them go to the investigating agency and tell them so and so took this money,'' he said.

To a question whether the BCCI would probe corruption allegations independently, Muthiah said the board had no investigative powers and the only action it could take was to delete records of players found guilty of corruption under a new code of conduct being drawn up.

``We cannot investigate. We can only conduct an inquiry like what Chandrachud (the one-man probe panel) did. What we are going to do is to have terms and conditions with players. He will have to abide by the code of conduct that is under preparation.''

Asked whether the board would study the Indian team's performance in the last five years to find out whether anything was amiss, Muthiah replied "no purpose will be served in doing this kind of research. Let us look prospective and let us look ahead and see that nobody is playing for losing a match."

Muthiah said despite the controversy, the morale of the Indian team preparing for the Asia Cup in Dhaka was high. "I just got a report from one of the psychiatrists who is with the team in which he said they are confident," he said.

On the Cronje affair, Muthiah said the United Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher spoke to him saying a judicial inquiry was being instituted in his country to go into the issue. ``I told Bacher `fine you are welcome to do so but please remember the Delhi Police have more information than you and I have. You should say you will co-operate with the Delhi Police and your relationship with BCCI will still remain the same'. He agreed. As far as Cronje is concerned I think Delhi Police have got very strong evidence," he said.

Reiterating BCCI's decision to provide financial support to enable players, including Kapil Dev, to meet legal expenses in fighting allegations of corruption against them, Muthiah said "The board cannot let down its people. Tomorrow Sourav Ganguly may be involved in an issue. Naturally others will say what is the board doing. We have to support our own players."

Asked to comment on reports that a former Indian captain had declared Rs 16 crore to income-tax officials under the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme, he said it was "unethical" on the IT department's part to reveal such information. "That's where the CBI investigation can work. The CBI inquiry can go deep into the case and the department can disclose the name," he added.