BCCI to fight Azhar's ban appeal

Mohammad Azharuddin's appeal against a life ban for his alleged role in match-fixing will be contested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

"He (Azharuddin) is at liberty to say whatever he wants to say. We will defend it in court," BCCI president A.C. Muthiah told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Azharuddin filed a petition on Monday in the city civil court of Hyderabad, challenging the life ban imposed on him by the BCCI over match-fixing allegations.

The petition named Muthiah and BCCI vigilance commissioner K. Madhavan as respondents and challenged the "irregularities" in the match-fixing inquiry conducted by Madhavan.

The petition also contended that there is no provision in the BCCI constitution to conduct such an inquiry, and the board's disciplinary committee alone had to take a decision.

Muthiah said the BCCI believes it followed correct procedures in appointing Madhavan as the vigilance commissioner.

"We have not yet received any communication from the court. We will reply to it as soon as it is received," Muthiah added.

A Central Bureau of Investigation report on the match-fixing scandal released last November named five Indian Test players.

The BCCI banned Azharuddin for life from cricket along with Ajay Sharma and suspended Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar for five years while exonerating Nayan Mongia, the other Indian player named in the CBI report.

All four players against whom the BCCI took action have denied any wrongdoing.

The board's decision had come after an internal enquiry conducted on the CBI report by Madhavan, a former director of the CBI. It had also asked the players to appear before a disciplinary committee.

The 38-year-old Azharuddin, accused of fixing results and underperforming in return for money from bookmakers by the CBI probe, had recently said he is confident he can overturn his ban in court and return to the Test side.

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