Azhar's aim both on and off the mark

And so Mohd Azharuddin has finally come out with guns blazing. There were times, while he was batting, that fielders had to run helterskelter, unable to stop the fusillade of shots hit by the wristy Hyderabadi artist. Now it would appear that is the turn of his detractors, officials and one time cricketing colleagues in the field to feel the heat of his sudden and vicious counter attack.

The besieged former Indian captain, who turns 38 next month, was obviously biding his time to strike back. Now, in his first interview after being slapped with a life ban by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for his alleged role in the match fixing scandal, Azharuddin has hit out at cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Vinod Kambli, who played alongside him through the eighties and nineties. According to him, cricketers from Mumbai - as indeed all the three are - have been able to get away with wrongdoing without being "investigated properly."

Azharuddin has made certain specific charges. "Nobody talks of the Rs 70 lakh in cash found in Sunil Gavaskar's Gymkhana locker. What about Ravi Shastri's Ali Bagh farmhouse and other costly properties? How did Vinod Kambli lose his money from a locker?" These are the allegations that he has made in the interview to a national news weekly.

To an extent, he may have a point. Initially, when news filtered through about the huge sum of money in Gavaskar's locker, eyebrows were raised and the tremors were felt well beyond the club. But then somehow there just did not appear to be much of a follow up on what was clearly a matter of some controversy. Then came news of Kambli's money stolen from a locker and there did not seem to be a satisfactory explanation about this too. Shastri's farmhouse also went off the headlines as quickly as it made them.

But thereafter much of his aim has gone awry. He exhibits either ignorance or arrogance. Accusing people of targeting him because they are jealous of his achievements, making uncharitable comments about Sachin Tendulkar (which are not true in any case), his initial reaction to the CBI report ("I took the report as any other blackmailing tactic"), and his talk about a "malicious campaign" against him when he was made captain ("the present BCCI president AC Muthiah opposed my candidature") are all counter allegations that show him to be unrepentant. This can win him no new converts and he must remember that right now he does not have many friends in the cricketing world anyway.

Azharuddin says he is still hopeful of starting his cricket academy and making a comeback to play his 100th Test. "But before stepping out into the public, I want to clear my name, as I have been wronged," he says. One wonders how many will buy this specious argument.

During his playing days, Azharuddin was equally dexterous playing off the front and back foot. So off the field too he has decided to attack on two fronts. Even while going on the counter attack against his fellow cricketers, he has decided to take on the BCCI and will soon challenge in the Andhra Pradesh High Court the life ban imposed on him for his alleged involvement in the match fixing scandal.

His advocate HR Bhardwaj has said that the writ petition in this regard, seeking quashing of the life ban has been finalised and would be filed in the high court. According to him, the main ground to be taken before the court in the petition would be to question the legal value of the CBI report. "The CBI followed no established procedure while conducting the probe," said Bhardwaj and added "the CBI report on betting and match fixing was neither an investigation nor a proper inquiry." Obviously if Azharuddin wants to commence a furious counter attack, he has found the right lawyer. When told that the BCCI decision was handed down after the board anti corruption commissioner K Madhavan endorsed the findings of the CBI report, Bhardwaj is quoted to have said "Mr Madhavan was nobody to conduct the inquiry. He had no jurisdiction to take up such a probe. It is only the cricket board which is authorised to conduct the probe, hence the punishment given to Azharuddin is illegal."

The BCCI however has remained unfazed by such strong words. Board officials have said that they were not worried over the threat by Azharuddin to challenge the life ban in court. Board executive secretary, Sharad Diwadkar, said on Friday that "BCCI is not worried over the matter. We appointed Madhavan to look into the betting and match-fixing scam apart from hiring the services of a few advocates and I think they will do the needful."

The irrepressible JY Lele is not to be left behind. "How can the players deny that they had no connections with bookmakers," asked the Board secretary. He added that the CBI report had proved there was a nexus between the players and bookmakers. "The code of conduct clearly states that there should be no connection between players and bookmakers. As the players have violated that code, we have slapped the ban on them," said Lele.

The BCCI secretary also said that the BCCI had taken opinions from legal luminaries before proceeding with the decision to ban the players. "The attorney general of India was sitting next to Muthiah (Board president) when we took the decision and he had expressed the opinion that the ban cannot be challenged in any court." And the Board will undoubtedly be encouraged to know that some leading lawyers in Mumbai have expressed the view that it was well within the BCCI's right to impose life ban on any cricketer if it feels that a particular player has violated the terms of contract with them.

There was those who thought that with the ban imposed by the BCCI on December 5, the dust had finally settled down on the controversy. On the contrary the "fun and games" may just be beginning. Watch this space for the next episode.