Azharuddin maintains his innocence

Azharuddin was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India three years ago after a match-fixing inquiry carried out by the Delhi-based Central Bureau of Investigation.

But his legal team challenged the decision, arguing that the BCCI was not empowered to appoint a commission of inquiry.

The case has gone on for over two and a half years with Azharuddin's counsel arguing that the CBI's investigative methods had been "malicious, illegal and arbitrary - and biased in favour of the BCCI."

But lawyer T Jagdish confirmed that their action has been rejected and they would now take the matter to a higher court.

Azharuddin, now 40, was just one short of 100 Test appearances when he was banned.

I have been discriminated against Mohammad Azharuddin (2001)

He scored 6,215 Test runs and remains one-day cricket's second-highest scorer after team-mate Sachin Tendulkar with 9,378 runs from 334 matches.

Two years ago, he told a magazine: "Match-fixing simply cannot be a one-man show. This is a game which involves 11 players. If a team fails, it is spectacularly unfair to single out just one person.

"What I am trying to say is that unless the entire team is part of the conspiracy, match-fixing cannot take place. There cannot be any foul play on the part of a single person."

Ajay Sharma also received a life ban in the wake of the CBI inquiry, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were handed five-year suspensions.

Jadeja also took legal action to clear his name and his ban was overturned in January.

He has already begin playing again in the hope of one day making a comeback for the national team.