Former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly has slammed at Vinod Kambli for his claims of the Wills World cup 1996 semi-finals against Sri Lanka being fixed.
Sourav Ganguly blasted Kambli asking why it took him 15 long years to reveal it and also urged Kambli prove his claims with proper evidence.
'This is a big allegation. He should come out with a proof. I want to know why he took 15 years to talk about it. If he has proof let him come out with it. Just because India batted second in the semifinal and lost the match, it doesn't mean that it was fixed,' Ganguly said in an interview to a news channel.
'Vinod Kambli's claim that his career was finished because of that game is rubbish. How can that game ruin his career, he was not out then,' Ganguly questioned.
Ganguly also urged Mohammed Azaruddin to take a proper stance on the issue and that time has come for Azhar to clear his name.
'Azhar should take a stance. It's upto him how he deals with it. But the time has come for Azhar to clear his name. There are too many whispers going around.'
Former Indian captain, Mohammad Azharuddin also slammed Vinod Kambli's match-fixing claims in the 1996 Wills World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka.
'This is ridiculous, absolutely baseless and part of the cheap campaign by people like Kambli. I played in the true spirit of the game and am fed up with such allegations against me every time the match-fixing debate arises,' said a seemingly agitated Azharuddin.
'Kambli should know in his heart of hearts how I supported him when there were serious complaints against him for repeated breaches of discipline,' he said.
Azhar also questioned the reason behind Kambli making such statements after 15 years.
'This is the cheapest gimmick adopted by him, probably, to be in the limelight again. And, I wonder why he is making these comments now, 15 years after the World Cup semifinal loss? Who stopped him from airing these views earlier?' the former captain asked.
'I will not take seriously any comments attributed to me or to my decisions as India captain. No one can question my credentials and my patriotism.'
'I also do not wish to engage in any debate on ICC Anti-Corruption chief Paul Condon's report. I don't think I need to comment on this,' Azhar said.
Azhar also made it clear that, it was a team decision to field first in the semi-finals match against Sri Lanka.
'It was a collective decision to field since our opponents were chasing well in all the previous matches. There was a discussion and many felt that they should bat first.'
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