THE recent heat on players and bookies from investigating authorities did not stop one of them from tagging the Indian team from the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka two months back. The bookie, a hotelier staying in A-block of Delhi's upmarket Vasant Vihar, has visibly struck more than a friendly chord with subcontinent cricketers, especially those from Pakistan. With an alias 'Prem', he even travelled to Toronto and stayed at the same hotel, Sutton Place, that the two teams stayed in. Surmises a photographer who has been keeping an eye on the bookie since Colombo: "I think it's become riskier for some of the involved players to use the phone to strike deals. It's easier to meet concerned parties in hotel rooms and corridors." In fact, at Toronto, 'Prem' frequently shared drinks with upwards of eight players in the Pakistani team, all of them senior. The Pakistani team management reportedly got wind of this and some say this single factor was responsible for the ouster of veteran batsman Salim Malik, who incidentally had been dogged by matchfixing charges by Australian as well as Pakistani cricketers.
Not only would Prem sit next to the tent of the main sponsors of the tournament, Sahara, he was strangely issued an "all access" card by the International Management Group (IMG). This ID allowed him access to the coveted patio where he could have chats with players from the Pakistani dressing room. (Incidentally, the media at the Sahara Cup were denied "all access" IDs which led to great consternation among the entire fraternity and, subsequently, a letter of protest was sent to the organisation signed by more than two dozen journalists. Copies of the letter were also sent to the cricket boards of India and Pakistan and the ICC.) In a talk with a Pakistani player in which Prem's liaison with the team was probed, the player said to Outlook: "We all know what he does. But he does what he has to do and we do what we have to do on the field. Why should you assume a connection just because he socialises with us?" Prem himself was constantly on his cell-phone during matches and on many occasions was heard by journalists talking in punter language. When contacted here in Delhi by Outlook, he made himself unavailable for comment.
