22 yards of deceit continues………

M.K. offered tea but I declined. Without prevaricating, he came straight to the point.

‘Sir, Main surrender karna chahta hoon. Saari fasaad ki jad main hoon.’ (Sir, I wish to surrender. I am at the root of all troubles’). He was referring to the match-fixing controversy.
Though unaware of how he was connected, I pretended I knew the entire background. I asked him: ‘Aap kehna kya chahte hain?’ (What are you driving at?)

Without beating about the bush, he began to narrate the story of his life. He was a clerk in a bank and was given to betting small amounts on cricket. He gathered as much knowledge as he could about the game and began placing intelligent bets which won him more money than other bettors. Through a customer in his bank, he was introduced to one Anand Saxena, a big-time punter in cricket and other sports. Gradually, in Saxena’s company, M.K.’s turnover in betting increased manifold, as did his profits. He decided to quit his secure, but ‘uninteresting’ bank job and become a full-time bookie in partnership with Anand Saxena.

Once in 1988, while watching a club-level cricket match in Delhi, M.K. saw a young cricketer make a century with a flourish and was deeply impressed with his talent. The cricketer was Ajay Sharma, who M.K. met after the game. M.K. gave the budding talent Rs 2000/- as a token of his appreciation. M.K. also shared his contact number with Ajay Sharma asking Ajay to contact him whenever he needed any help, financial or otherwise. Little did the fledgling cricketer realize that he had unwittingly bitten the bait thrown at him by someone determined to become the pioneer in fixing cricket matches worldwide.

M.K. candidly admitted to me that he had made an investment in a young talent, almost certain that the club level cricketer would make it big. It was then that M.K. would reap the benefits of his investment.


To be continued………..