The Sports Ministry has come up with a five-point agenda for its meeting on April 27 with officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and selected team-members and the team management.

Among the questions that are bound to face those attending the meeting, invitees to which include skipper Sourav Ganguly, coach Kapil Dev and former captains Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Azharuddin, are those pertaining to the poor recent run of form of the national team.

The move, triggered off by a combination of the match-fixing charges involving ex-South Africa skipper Hansie Cronje and two Delhi-based bookmakers and India's indifferent recent record, is clearly aimed to providing the Government with some answers.

With cricket taking centrestage over the last week, the government clearly aims to have some answers of its own, though how much is actually expected to emerge is still a moot point.

According to sources, there are four main areas Union Sports Minister SS Dhindsa would like to cover.

They deal basically with: a) a check or record on players' lifestyles; b) on whether the present team management, or those of the recent past had taken precautions to curb match-fixing, and if not, why; c) why the Indian team had lost so many matches in close finishes and d) the reasons for India's poor performances recently.

The minister has said that each of these issues would be gone into in detail. Towards this end, he has already asked for a report from BCCI Secretary Jaywant Lele, who is also expected to attend the April 27 meeting with Board President AC Muthiah and other office-bearers.

Clearly, the attempt is for the government to arm itself in case the issue widens further. On top of the wider agenda is a possible request for Cronje's extradition, if the case lodged by Delhi Police moves far enough in that direction.

Besides, with India coming in for some vilification worldwide as being the home of illegal betting and match-fixing attempts, the government is keen to be seen as taking action on the matter.

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