Feature: Bribery case opens can of worms

The lawyer investigating bribery claims against an Indian cricketer has submitted his findings to the Board of Control (BCCI).

DV Subba Rao, chairman of the Indian Bar Council, was quoted as saying: "I have done my job."

Abhijit Kale is accused of trying to bribe national selectors Kiran More and Pranob Roy in the hope of a place in the squad to tour Australia.

The 30-year-old Maharashtra batsman has denied the allegations.

The investigation began last Saturday after a district court in Pune upheld the BCCI's decision to ban Kale from first-class cricket pending its outcome.

After hearing evidence from a number of witnesses, Rao has submitted a report to the Board, but its conclusions have yet to be made public.

"It is now for the BCCI to decide the next course of action," he told the Press Trust of India.

Roy claims he was offered a bribe of one million rupees (�12,800), while More alleges that he was approached in an "unethical manner".

The scandal is the biggest to hit Indian cricket since the match-fixing saga in 2000 which led to life bans for former captain Mohammad Azharuddin and ex-Test player Ajay Sharma and five-year bans for fellow internationals Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar.

Kale is a highly successful batsman at domestic level, having scored more than 6,800 runs at an average of 58.67, including 24 centuries.

His only international experience came in April when he played in a one-day game against Bangladesh in Dhaka, scoring only 10 in a nine-wicket Indian win.