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Sohail willing to go before Chandrachud committee

Prem Panicker

"I haven't been officially informed that Aamir Sohail is willing to testify before me," says former chief justice Y V Chandrachud, reacting to newspaper reports that Pakistan cricket Aamir Sohail has expressed willingness to appear before the committee now probing allegations of betting and bribery in Indian cricket.

Will he be willing to listen to Sohail? "Yes, certainly, why not," says the former jurist. "My goal is to clear up this question of whether or not bribery and betting exists in Indian cricket, and I am open to listening to anyone who can shed light on the matter. The BCCI has told me it has no objections to my summoning foreign players, if I feel the need. About Sohail in particular, I haven't yet decided what to do. For now, I am busy meeting Indian players, officials..."

Sohail, earlier, had told the media in Colombo, where he is now participating as a member of the Pakistan cricket team, in the ongoing Asia Cup, that he had no reservations about going before the Chandrachud committee, provided it was cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

In the meantime, Sohail is still trying to adjust to a return to the international arena. Two bad outings with the bat in the first two games Pakistan played in the tourney haven't, he says, dampened either his ardour, or his rapport with the rest of the team.

The question of how Sohail would be received by his team-mates - more so in light of recent allegations of large scale betting, bribery and corruption in the Pakistan squad - was one that had exercised the PCB as well. Immediately after the Pak squad for the Asia Cup was named, thus, the PCB organised a meeting of team members with the unspoken agenda of ending the bad blood between Sohail and some of the senior players. Past is past, and to be forgotten, was the message going out.

The PCB also came up with the idea of setting up a senior players' committee to manage inter-personal relationships within the team during the Asia Cup campaign, with Salim Malik, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan as members - and this ploy, too, has helped in lessening the tensions within the team.

Meanwhile, though Sohail has been reinstated within the Pakistan side, indications are that the controversy surrounding him is far from laid to rest.

A day before the Pak squad for the Asia Cup was selected, he had appeared before the disciplinary committee of the PCB, headed by Talat Ali, to substantiate his allegations of bribery and corruption in Pakistan cricket. Sources within the PCB said at the time that though Sohail did produce some 'evidence', most of it was in the form of press clippings, besides a document purportedly conveying the testimony of three former cricketers, none of whom had signed it.

The Talat Ali committee's report, thus, is understood to have stated that Sohail had not proved his case. Normally, such a report would have scotched Sohail's chances of making a comeback to the side for the Asia Cup. In fact, the team selection was put off by a day in order to wait for the Talat Ali report. However, in the event Sohail was included - and analysts indicate that the Pakistan government's strong backing of the cricketer was what tilted the scales in his favour.

However, the matter is far from shelved. On July 6, the PCB at its meeting had approved the constitution of a four member committee, with Justice Ijaz Yousuf as convenor, to probe any and all allegations of betting and bribery in Pakistan cricket that may arise in future.

The operative word is "in future". But then again, unless Sohail retracts the allegations he has made - and it is relevant that he has named, among others, no less than Wasim Akram as one of the central figures - the charges he levelled still remain on record, and thus will be open to the Yousuf committee's investigation.

And that could open the Pandora's Box all over again....