David refutes Pratap's charges

Yet another bribery scandal has hit Indian cricket with former allrounder Noel David being accused of bribing his way into the Indian team for the West Indies tour in 1996.

Former Hyderabad batsman Vanka Pratap has cast aspersions on David's selection to the Indian team. This incident has come up now following the latest incident involving Abhijit Kale, who has been accused of offering money to Indian selectors.

David, who is now in Dubai as the coach of the American University, DPS and Insportz, has denied the accusation.

"I never did such a thing and I made it to the Indian team through sheer performance alone. The Indian team was looking for an off spinner who could also bat and that season I had scored 400 runs and bagged 18 wickets from six matches and so they selected me," said David, who made his debut in 1996-97 against West Indies.

"In my debut match I even picked 3 for 21 and I received a lot of compliments for my fielding. This allegation has tarnished my reputation in India and abroad and I will be taking action after talks with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) officials," added David.

"Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas and K. Srikkanth, who was a manager of the team during the tour had praised my fielding and it is a shame to find someone make a baseless allegation about my selection and that too after so many years," said David.

"All that I can think about Pratap's accusations is that it may have been made because we competed intensely for the No 5 and No 6 slot in the Hyderabad team," said David.