Fugitive Pataudi applies for bail

Mr Pataudi is the youngest man to have captained India's cricket team

Former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi - currently on the run - has applied for bail in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana.

The cricketer - who has evaded arrest for more than a week - formally sought bail in court through his lawyers. He is wanted on poaching charges.

Another suspect, who is believed to have acted as a guide, was arrested by the police last week and granted bail.

Mr Pataudi played in 46 Tests and led India to their first Test win overseas.

Aristocratic background

Mr Pataudi's case is due to heard on Tuesday.

He and eight other suspects have been charged has been charged with killing an endangered species of antelope called a black buck under sections 9, 39 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

They are also accused of killing two wild rabbits in Haryana's Jhajjar area earlier this month.

"We do have an idea about the whereabouts of Mr Pataudi, but we are not disclosing it, only our raiding parties know," police Superintendent Hanif Qureshi told the Reuters news agency.

Mr Pataudi - nicknamed Tiger - comes from an aristocratic background and is regarded as one of India's greatest cricketers.

He played 46 Tests for India between 1961 and 1975, and became the world's youngest national captain at the age of 21.

He remains the youngest person in India ever to have captained the national side. Correspondents say the police have now sent a tiger skin and three deerskins seized from his Ibrahim Palace home near Delhi for forensic tests.

They want to see if the animals were killed before or after a 1972 amnesty.

Wildlife campaigners say that while poaching is illegal in India, hunting remains popular.

They say that because police tend to ignore expeditions by the rich, famous or powerful, efforts to conserve protected animals are often hampered.

Mr Pataudi's son, the leading Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, and his fellow star Salman Khan are on trial charged with killing a black buck in 1998. They have denied the charges.