When you are included in the test team, you think only of your performance and not of money. Cricket is a religion in India and if the numerous spectators even suspect that a player takes bribe to play badly, they will boycott him and destroy his family socially. A match can be fixed by getting at the star players in the team but even tail-enders have turned the fortunes of a game as happened in the match which was played on 10th October 1997 between Pak and South Africa. Some figures are interesting. A great player like Gavaskar who scored 130 centuries in first class matches was out for a duck on 20 occasions. In his last match, Gavaskar needed only 4 runs to bid farewell with a century but he was out for 96. That is exactly what happened to Sir Don Bradman, the greatest of us all.

I believe that people bet on Cricket. But a player can make far more money by playing well and winning a match than by playing badly and loosing a match. In fact, if a player has some class he will bet to win so that he wins the bet and makes additional money because of his performance. Our style of living has changed significantly which leads to various guesses and allegations. People think that we must be making money by illegal ways since we live so well. They do not know that the tax people will not allow it to go unnoticed and that, we are paid handsomely as members of the team.

I do not think that in today's Indian team, there is any player who bets on the game. It is true that at one time friends used to have access to the player's enclosure and sometimes they used to speak on mobile phones. Now mobiles are not allowed after we leave our hotel. No friends are allowed in the player's enclosure, much less in the dressing room. The dressing room is an exclusive place meant for the use of players.






Ajay Jadeja stated that he knew Rajesh Kalra and Kishan Kumar since they regularly come to the gym at Hotel Park Royal which is also frequented by Jadeja. He denied any knowledge about their being punters. On being asked about Rattan Mehta, who also figures prominently in his cellphone printouts, he stated that Rattan Mehta was a very good friend and had known him for the past many years. He also stated that he had gone to his restaurant many times and maintained close contacts with Rattan Mehta.

When asked whether he knew that Rattan Mehta was also involved in betting and match-fixing, he stated that he had no knowledge of such activities and also never bothered to find out. On being asked whether he knew that Rattan Mehta's sister Mona Mehta was arrested for betting on cricket matches during the World Cup, 1999, by Delhi police, he stated that he had not heard of such an incident. On being asked whether he knew Mukesh Kumar Gupta alias MK he stated that he had never met him but all that he knew was that MK stayed next to Nikhil Chopra's house in Defence Colony.

He also denied that he went to Mukesh Gupta's house at Defence Colony along with a girl and Ajay Sharma sometime in 1996. He, however, stated that since he met so many people he cannot remember all of them. He stated that he did not remember whether he received Rs 50, 000 from MK. On being asked whether he was involved in match-fixing with Mohd. Azharuddin, he denied the same. On being asked whether he knew Uttam Chand, a bookie/ punter of Chennai, he stated that he did not know him.

On being confronted with Uttam Chand's cell phone printout, which disclosed very frequent telephonic contact between both of them just before or during cricket matches, he stated that he recognised Uttam Chand's cell phone number but knew him as 'Gupta'. He did not know how Uttam Chand got his telephone number. Jadeja stated that Uttam Chand used to ring him up often and tell him that if he did not talk to him, he would run into bad luck and because of superstition, he used to return his call.

On being asked whether he knew that Uttam Chand was a bookie, he stated that he had an inkling to that effect due to the nature of conversation Uttam Chand used to have with him. On being asked why he did not discontinue his association with Uttam Chand after that, he said that he could not explain this.

Ajay Jadeja also denied that he provided any information to Uttam Chand about cricket matches and denied receiving any money from Uttam Chand. Finally, on being asked about his association with persons like Rajesh Kalra, Kishan Kumar, Rattan Mehta and Uttam Chand who are all bookies/ punters, Jadeja stated that he did not want to discuss these things. He merely said that he had made certain mistakes in his career and was ready to pay the price for it. Statement of Nikhil Chopra Nikhil Chopra, member of the Indian team, stated that he had absolutely no idea of match-fixing or related malpractices.

He also did not have any idea of any Indian players being involved in such malpractices. On being asked about Rajesh Kalra's call in his cell phone printout, he stated that he knew Rajesh Kalra since both of them used the gym at Hotel Park Royal. On being asked about the details of his conversations over telephone with Rajesh Kalra, he stated that he did not recollect the same. On being asked about a call received on his cell phone from Sanjiv Chawla's mobile, he stated that he did not know Sanjiv Chawla and did not know how his number had figured in his telephone printout.

On being asked about a call made to Rattan Mehta from his cell phone, he stated that he did not know Rattan Mehta and did not remember whether he made such a call. He stated that he had seen Rattan Mehta just once when he was sitting in a hotel with his brother and his brother had pointed out Rattan Mehta and told him that he was the owner of Hotel Mini Mahal in Vasant Vihar.