Shame of the game

Allegations about match-fixing and large amounts of money changing hands to decide the fate of games go back to the 1970s. Here are some of the more prominent betting troubles that have plagued international cricket over the last two decades:

1992: Australian Dean Jones says an Indian offered him $50,000 for
inside information about the team during its Sri Lanka tour.

1993: Australian Allan Border says former Pakistan captain Mushtaq
Mohammed offered him $500,000 to lose a Test in England (Mushtaq later said he was joking).

1994: Pakistan opener Aamir Sohail accuses teammates Salim Malik and Mushtaq Ahmed of not trying hard enough in a match against Australia in Colombo.

1994: Manoj Prabhakar claims he was offered money (by Kapil Dev) to under-perform in an India-Pakistan match in Sri Lanka that eventually got washed out.

1995: Aussies Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh allege they were offered money by Pakistani batsman Salim Malik to play badly in a Test against Pakistan in Karachi.

1997: A report on allegations about betting and match-fixing in Indian cricket is submitted by former chief justice YV Chandrachud. The report absolved Indian cricketers of any wrongdoings, and was made public only three years later.

1998: Pakistan players Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed and Wasim Akram are probed by judge Malik Qayyum on charges of match-fixing. The three are banned from playing for Pakistan, but are reinstated 11 months later. In May 2000, the Pakistan Cricket Board released the Qayyum report.

Malik and Ata-ur Rehman are banned for life, while Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Akram Raza and Saeed Anwar are censured and fined.

1998: Australian Cricket Board admits it fined Shane Warne and Mark Waugh in February 1995 for giving information to bookies during the team’s 1994 Sri Lanka tour

2000: Delhi police charges South African captain Hansie Cronje and teammates Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje with involvement in match-fixing. The cricketers deny the charges.

Cronje later admitted he was not “entirely honest” about his complicity, and the South African Cricket Board says he accepted cash from two bookies. Gibbs said he had accepted $15,000 from Cronje, the same as his roommate on the tour, Henry Williams.

2000: The International Cricket Council (ICC) sets up an anti-corruption unit and asks all players to sign a declaration divulging whether or not they had been asked to take part in any corrupt activity.

2000: A CBI report accuses Mohammed Azharuddin of fixing matches. The report also said that bookies offered or paid money to nine non-Indian players, including Brian Lara, Alec Stewart and Mark Waugh. Dean Jones, Hansie Cronje, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Martin Crowe and Salim Malik are also named in the report.

Following a CBI probe, the Indian Cricket Board banned Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma for life, and Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Jadeja for five years. Mongia was exonerated.

2001: Javed Miandad claims to have visual and audio footage to show Pakistan deliberately threw away the one-day series against New Zealand 2-3, and suffered a humiliating defeat in the final Test at Hamilton to level the three-Test series 1-1.

Miandad decided to go public with his allegations after he was sacked as coach because of the team’s dismal performance.

2001: The ICC releases its report on match-fixing, prepared by former Scotland Yard chief Sir Paul Condon. The report advocates a greater involvement by the ICC to keep match-fixing under control, and lists several things to watch out for in matches.

2005: Mumbai police arrest former bar girl Tarannum Khan for alleged match-fixing. She was believed to have links with various bookies, and to have befriended Sri Lankan ace Muthaiah Muralitharan.

2007: Nagpur police tape telephone conversations between West Indian player Marlon Samuels and bookie Mukesh Kochar, an associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.