Rao's observations swept under carpet

Rao's observations swept under carpet

Vijayawada, May 13: The cricket Board was advised to ``do away'' with Manoj Prabhakar in view of his ``casual and non-co-operative'' attitude to team members but this observation was not taken cognizance of by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

This charge was made by the former BCCI vice-president N Venkata Rao who said he had made these observations about Prabhakar in the ``confidential'' report to the then BCCI president IS Bindra following the tour of New Zealand in 1995 when he was the administrative manager of the team.

``Had the BCCI authorities taken care of my observations against Prabhakar soon after the Indian team's tour of New Zealand in 1995, things would not have come to this stage today. It really surprises me as to why the former BCCI president chose to keep my report confidential and did not share (it) with other members of the Board,'' said Rao in a statement to The Indian Express on Saturday.

The relevant extract of his report states: ``All the members conducted themselves well on and off the field and behaved like true ambassadors of the country. My observations regarding Mr Manoj Prabhakar is that his physical fitness needs to be checked. His attitude towards the members of the team is very casual and non-cooperative. His conduct with the youngsters in the team may cause demoralising effect on the team members and ultimately on their performances. In view of the above stated things, I feel it is better if we do away with him in the larger interest of the team.''

Rao's statement was in response to the recent interview of Kapil Dev on the BBC television wherein the former India star broke down and wept while responding to charges that he (Kapil) had asked Prabhakar to ``under perform''.

Rising to the defence of Kapil Dev, Rao said: ``Kapil Dev never played cricket for money. There are occasions he refused claim flight charges when he participated in the benefit matches organised by ACA in aid of former players at Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Eluru. He participated in the exhibition tie played between Indian XI and Sri Lanka XI at Vijayawada in 1993 organised by both ACA and Hyderabad Cricket Association, which goes on to prove his concern for fellow cricketers. The unsubstantiated allegations against such a dedicated player needs condemnation from all quarters.''

Incidentally, Rao, soon after the tour of New Zealand had informed this paper that he suspected involvement of ``four Indian cricketers'' in match-fixing and betting. He, however, denied the story after 48 hours.