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Indian coach says Azharuddin, Jadeja betrayed team

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November 8, 2000 

CALCUTTA (UNB/AP) - Indian cricket coach Anshuman Gaekwad Tuesday said he was ashamed of cricketers Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja for their alleged involvement match-fixing and betting.

The two cricketers have been named in a federal investigative report for accepting money from bookmakers to lose matches.

"Azharuddin and Jadeja betrayed the fine game of cricket itself and cheated the whole country," Gaekwad said before leaving the eastern city of Calcutta for Dhaka, Bangladesh, where India plays Bangladesh in a one-off test match that begins Nov. 10.

"They also betrayed the team. I'm indeed ashamed of them," he said.

This is Gaekwad's final stint as coach of the Indian cricket team. Former New Zealand captain John Wright has been selected by the Indian cricket board to replace him.

A report released last week by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's version of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation, named Azharuddin, Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma for underperforming, betting and providing information to bookmakers on the pitch, weather and team strategy in test and one-day international matches.

Nine foreign players were also named by a bookmaker whose confessions to the police formed the bulk of the report.

Gaekwad was India's coach during the 1999 match against Pakistan when Azharuddin allegedly received money from two bookmakers.

"What can I say? How do I know who is doing what off the field," Gaekwad said when asked to comment on the CBI report.

He said the match fixing scandal would not affect the Indian team's performance in the Bangladesh test match.

"This team is all right. The only thing it needs is consistency."

India fared disastrously in the one-day international final in Sharjah last month where the Indians scored only 54 runs against Sri Lanka.

The 14-member Indian team that will play Bangladesh includes captain Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Shivsundar Das, Sadagoppan Ramesh, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Saba Karim, Sunil Joshi, Zahir Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Murali Kartik.