'Banned' Azhar's meeting with Ranji players in Delhi irks BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India shot off a letter to the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) for allowing some of the Vidarbha cricketers to flout the Anti-Corruption norms by speaking to former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin during a Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at Feroz Shah Kotla last week.

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The players in question are veteran cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Subramaniam Badrinath along with chief coach Paras Mhambrey, who were seen speaking to Azharuddin on the sidelines of their Ranji Trophy match against Delhi, where the former India captain had come on invitation of DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan.

The BCCI has not yet lifted the life ban on Azharuddin, who was found guilty in 2000 for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scam.

Chauhan confirmed that they had received a communication from the BCCI in this regard.

"The BCCI has written to us as to how Vidarbha players spoke to Azharuddin in the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) area. Now the area which they are including in PMOA is where the selectors (Vinay Lamba and Hari Gidwani) and DDCA officials were sitting. Azhar was sitting right there. Now that is a bit confusing. But if they are saying that players shouldn't have spoken to Azhar, we should be more careful," Chauhan said on Tuesday.

It has been learnt that ACU officials brought this to the notice of match referee Rajendra Jadeja as they were speaking to him when the match was on.

Veteran India discards Jaffer and Badrinath were already dismissed by then and were in their training uniforms as they came out of their dressing rooms. On seeing Azhar sitting along side Chauhan, Gidwani and Lamba at the boundary line, they joined for a discussion. Coach Mhambrey also joined them along with a junior cricketer.

From the Delhi camp, the only person, who flouted the ACU rule was assistant coach Amit Bhandari, who came and hugged Azharuddin.