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"This is a conspiracy to malign Asian cricket"

Former Indian cricket captain and dashing opening bat Krishnamachari Srikkanth, now in Hyderabad as manager of the Indian team taking part in the three-nation Siyaram Cup triangular tournament, said that he saw in the Manoj Prabhakar imbroglio "some sort of design to denigrate not not only Indian cricket, but in fact cricket in the Asian sub-continent as a whole."

Speaking to the media on the eve of the three-nation ODI tournament, Srikanth wondered, "Why is it that it has been happening in India and Pakistan alone? I suspect that a lot of people are waiting, like vultures to pull us down."

Terming as 'unfortunate' the allegations of his former opening partner, Manoj Prabhakar, Srikkanth suggested that the BCCI should make ''discreet enquiries''.

''Nobody knows the full facts,it may be good for the press, lots of sensational stuff to write about, but unless you are 150 per cent sure of the facts, it should not be highlighted', he said, adding that this whole thing was bound to affect the players, and their morale.

The former opener argued that it would take ''at least eight chaps to get together (for a match to be fixed) and eleven players to win or lose''. This business of saying one player was bribed to play badly, Srikkanth argued, could only be believed by people who had never actually played a team game, and didn't know that if one player played below par, the others tried to make up for that.

Srikkanth argued that it was time the media cut down on the hype, while the BCCI looked into the matter and initiated action if and when it was found necessary.

Referring to the ongoing unofficial tournament, Srikkanth said the Siyaram Cup competition was an ideal opportunity for out-of-form cricketers, including former skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, to prove their mettle and force their way back to the team.

Srikkanth added that this tournament would give India and Pakistan in particular an opportunity to warm up before the Asia Cup competition slated for July.

"Though these matches do not not have official status, national selector Sambaran Banerjee has flown into the city to join locally-based selector Shivlal Yadav to watch the games," Srikkanth said. "I hope the Indian side takes these games seriously, and also that players like Azharuddin, V V S Laxman and Venkatapathi Raju stage a comeback with good performances."

Srikkanth was flanked by all three captains at the media briefing. Tendulkar said his team would do its talking on the field, Pakistan skipper Rameez Raja for his part said he hoped his team would benefit from the games by way of practise, and New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said that he could predict some competitive encounters during the championship.