Feature: Bribery case opens can of worms

A three-man Indian cricket board committee is to investigate allegations of bribery against Abhijit Kale.

The batsman was accused by two national selectors of offering them money to secure a place in the Indian team.

Board president Jagmohan Dalmiya told the BBC he would join Kamal Morarka and Ranbir Singh on the committee.

If necessary the committee, whose first meeting will be 11 December in Calcutta may summon Kale or the two national selectors, Dalmiya said.

The move comes after a top lawyer found "prima facie evidence" of bribery.

DV Subba Rao, chairman of the Indian Bar Council, told the BBC evidence of "some impropriety" had been disclosed to him during his investigation.

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

My client will now have to face the inquiry ... but one cannot impute he is guilty Kale's lawyer Vineet Naik

The scandal is the biggest to hit Indian cricket since the match-fixing saga in 2000.

The affair 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.

He maintains his innocence of the charges againt him, having stated: "I am confident truth will prevail in the end."