Azharuddin rubbishes Kambli's claim that 1996 World Cup semifinal was fixed
NEW DELHI: Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin on Friday rubbished the claims made by his former teammate Vinod Kambli that the 1996 World Cup semifinal against Sri Lanka could have been fixed.Azharuddin, who was the skipper at that time said that Kambli must have been sleeping when the decision to bowl was taken and it was a collective one.
"We wanted to chase after we lost to Sri Lanka in Kotla in the previous match," said Azharuddin.
The former captain lashed out at Kambli and said that he that should be thankful for whatever cricket he has played. He added that has betrayed the team and that Kambli's charges are highly disrespectful to the team.
The match was eventually abandoned and awarded to Lanka.
"I was stunned by India's decision to field," Kambli told a television channel during a debate on former ICC anti-corruption unit chief Paul Condon's claim that many teams were monitored for fixing in the late 1990s.
"I'll never forget the match because my career ended after it. I was stunned by the decision to field," Kambli said."I was standing on one side and on the other end my fellow batsman was telling me that we would chase the target," the channel quoted the retired player as saying. However, soon after they quickly got out one by one. I don't know what transpired," Kambli had said.
He added, "Something was definitely amiss. However, I was not given a chance to speak and was dropped soon after. Our team manager at that time, Wadekar, was aware of everything."
Ajit Wadekar, who was the team manager then, said the game was clean.
He said, "I did not even think there was anything suspicious in that loss. It was purely because we misread the wicket and were slightly overconfident after beating Pakistan in the quarterfinal."
"Why did he wake up suddenly after 15 years? During my four-and-half year stint (with the national team), I used to frequently have dinner with Vinod. Had he told me about his suspicions then, I would have requested the board to probe the matter."