Compromise likely on Jadeja's ban

A compromise seems to be emerging on the ban slapped on stylish opening bat Ajay Jadeja by the Indian cricket board for his alleged role in match-fixing.

On Thursday, it was suggested in the Delhi high court that Jadeja make a representation against the ban to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which would then consider it.

The suggestion emerged during the hearing on an appeal filed by the BCCI against the September 17 order of a single judge holding that the court had the jurisdiction to hear Jadeja's plea against the ban.

A division bench comprising judges Anil Dev Singh and Madan Lakur, who heard the BCCI plea, decided that the case would be heard on November 6.

Jadeja, who has captained India in one Test and turned out for 195 one-day Internationals, has challenged the ban on grounds of "procedural unfairness".

Judge Mukul Mudgul had ruled on September 17 that "the preliminary objection of the BCCI to the maintainability of the writ petition is rejected".

"Jadeja's writ petition is maintainable and the objections raised by BCCI and its (then) president, A.C. Muthiah, are rejected," Mudgal had ruled.

Jagmohan Dalmiya replaced Muthiah last month when he was elected board president at its annual meeting in Madras.

Jadeja is among the four players banned by the BCCI after the match-fixing scandal rocked the cricketing world in April 2000. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which probed the scam, had named five cricketers as being involved in throwing matches. The other four are former captain Mohammad Azharuddin, wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia, all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar and former Delhi player Ajay Sharma.

The BCCI, after an internal examination of the CBI report, banned Azharuddin and Sharma for life and slapped five-year bans on Jadeja and Prabhakar. Mongia was exonerated.

Indo-Asian News Service