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Khetrapal to sue Chris Lewis

Onkar Singh

Delhi based sports promoter Aushim Khetrapal of Radiant Sports has decided to file a defamation suit against former England player Chris Lewis.

Lewis has alleged that Khetrapal offered three lakh pounds to former England captain Alec Stewart and Alan Mullaly for throwing a match against the New Zealand team in August.

"We knew that the story had been floating around for sometime but since nothing had appeared in print, friends and journalists advised us not to act in hurry to file the defamation suit. Now that Asian Age has carried the story we would like to go ahead with the defamation suit against Chris Lewis.

"This man is fabricating stories and telling lies to mediamen. Aushim is not in Delhi right now. We would consult our lawyers and take necessary action," an angry Anita Khetrapal, wife of Aushim, told rediff.com in an informal conversation this afternoon.

According to her, Aushim was in London to sign England players for a benefit match, to be organised for M P Pandov, secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, and had fixed Chris Lewis to coordinate things in London for him.

"Aushim thought that it was much better that Chris Lewis should be appointed coordinator for the London end because he would be able to do the job of signing the players better than Aushim himself would do from New Delhi. The benefit match was initially to be played between India and Sri Lanka, but since the Sri Lankan board officials were not cooperating, therefore, it was decided that the Sri Lankan team should be replaced with the English team. At no point of time did Aushim make any such offer to any of the English players, as is being alleged Lewis," she added.

Aushim himself could not be contacted as he was not in Delhi. "I have spoken to Aushim, we would be holding a press conference as soon as he is back in Delhi. Maybe, sometimes tomorrow we would speak to the media to clarify our position," she promised.

But those who know Khetrapal partially believe the story which has appeared in one of the national newspapers.

"This man has been doing hanky panky deals right through. Many top billiards players of the world are upset with him because he gave them rough treatment, and in some cases did not even pay the players the promised amount. A cricket match between an Indian eleven and West Indian eleven had to be called off because the West Indian players, mostly former Test cricketers, like Hooper, refused to enter the ground till their dues were cleared. In fact, some of the players were so furious that they hired cars to look for Aushim who proved elusive," alleged a senior sports journalist.

Indeed, this is certainly not the first time that Khetarpal has got himself into trouble. "The first time he got into trouble was with the Indian cricket board a couple of years ago when he tried to bring in sponsorship for a particular Test series. The sponsors, a leading Indian television team, then backed out of its commitment and wanted Khetrapal to return the money.

"The board was not willing. Khetarpal was caught between the sponsors and the board. Later, he ran into trouble with the Income Tax people, who not only sold his property but also his BMW to recover the income tax dues," revealed a erstwhile friend of Khetrapal, who fell off with him because of the man's failure to honour his financial commitments.

But supporters of Khetrapal say that he does not have that kind of clout to offer three lakh pounds to anyone for throwing away a match.

"Many people are jealous of him and, therefore, keep spreading all sorts of things. I am sure some of Khetrapal's detractors must be pleased with the kind of story which has appeared today. They would clap for anything which may cause misery to Kehtrapal. He is a well-meaning person. He may be in financial trouble himself, but he would not let someone else down. I pity the guy. I guess some one is trying to fix him," said a close friend, who had once worked with Khetarpal's Radiant Sports firm.