The match-fixing saga involving former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin gets murkier by the day.

Just as the Indian cricket buffs were bracing themselves for the second stage of the match-fixing saga, a legal battle by the "convicted" cricketers to clear their name-Azharuddin has added a new dimension to the sordid affair.

It threw mud at some former teammates and accused the Bombay-based players of being let go without proper investigation.

The scenario has undergone a dramatic shift after Azharuddin made the accusation that two former Indian captains, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, ought to be investigated thoroughly.

Azharuddin has made his persecution paranoia public even earlier, but this was the first time he resorted to throwing mud at other players.

And while hurling the mud at his former team-mates, Azharuddin has deftly made an attempt to use the common view of the probe not having been exhaustive.

Scandal

Indeed, even the government-appointed investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), had earlier said that this probe is a continuing process.

It hasn't made any difference to the way Azharuddin is still perceived by the public at large.

The former Indian captain has lost much of his social status in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal.

Millions of fanatical cricket-loving Indians are yet to come to terms that a person who was bestowed the honour of leading the country for a decade-spanning three World Cups-indulged in fixing matches.

The more significant aspect of Azharuddin coming out of his isolation with an mud-slinging interview is the decision to move court, which alone can give him a clean chit and help salvage his tattered reputation.

Coverted threats of taking the life ban imposed on his match-fixing ban to court made through his lawyers haven't ruffled the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as yet.

The BCCI mandarins feel that they have taken due cognisance of the "crime" after a "proper" investigation of their own and the bans were not imposed merely on basis of the CBI report.

It is the relevance of the CBI's report which could be the first thing challenged in court.

Pandora's box

Sharad Diwadkar, BCCI's Executive Secretary, said the Board was "not worried over the matter".

Azharuddin's outburst against Gavaskar and Shastri is not the first time he has lashed at the duo.

In the past, Azharuddin has made inferences that cricketer-turned-columnists and television commentators, Gavaskar and Shastri were jealous of his achievements as a player and captain.

Azharuddin's allegations are being downplayed for the time being, but they could open a pandora's box in the long run and embroil other cricketers.

And no one knows who might get dragged into this match-fixing affair, or more relevantly the issue concerning undisclosed income.