Azharuddin testifies on match-fixing

Azharuddin is under pressure after Cronje's revelations

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin has appeared before the federal agency in India investigating the cricket match-fixing scandal.

Azharuddin arrived at the New Delhi headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday morning.

Officials of the CBI's Special Crime Branch questioned him on the allegations made by sacked South African captain Hansie Cronje.

Cronje had told the King Commission in South Africa that Azharuddin had introduced him to a bookie named Mukesh Gupta.

Manoj claims Azhar knew of Kapil's money offer

Azharuddin's deposition also came in the wake of videotapes clandestinely shot by former cricketer Manoj Prabhakar.

In the tapes, Prabhakar claims that Azharuddin knew of an alleged offer made by former Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev to Prabhakar.

According to Prabhakar, Kapil had offered him $62,000 (2.5m Indian rupees) to under-perform against Pakistan in a tri-nation series in Sri Lanka in 1994.

Following Hansie Cronje's allegations, Indian sports minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has asked Azharuddin to stay out of the national team till his name is cleared.

Azharuddin reacted by saying that he was being victimised because he belonged to minority Muslim community.

A government minister and Muslim intellectuals reacted angrily to this, forcing Azharuddin to apologise for his remarks.