Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and ex-Test player Ajay Sharma were yesterday banned from cricket for life following allegations of match-fixing.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president A.C. Muthiah told reporters that Ajay Jadeja and former Test player Manoj Prabhakar had been suspended from the game for five years by Indian cricket's ruling body.

The decisions came after a meeting of the board's disciplinary committee to discuss a federal investigation into matchfixing.

Wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia, who was named along with the four other players in the damning Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report, has been exonerated.

A former team physiotherapist, Ali Irani, who was accused in the CBI report of acting as a go-between for Azharuddin and bookmaker Mukesh Gupta, was suspended from all cricket-related activities.

Muthiah said the players could appeal against their punishments.

"Azharuddin is debarred from playing any cricket conducted by the ICC, the BCCI or their affiliated organisations," the board president said.

Muthiah added that Azharuddin would be banned from holding any position with the cricket board for life and would not be eligible for benefit matches.

The official said contributions made by the board to the former captain's benevolent fund would be withheld.

The same was applicable to Sharma, Muthiah said.

Though Jadeja and Prabhakar could play or hold an organisational position after five years, they would not get any benefit matches and benevolent fund, he added.

K. Madhavan, a former CBI joint director, who was appointed by the BCCI to look into the government report, had endorsed the CBI's charge that Azharuddin was involved in match-fixing last month.

He had said the others had links with bookmakers but may not have fixed matches.

"We have examined the report of Madhavan and we came to the conclusion that the players' denial was unacceptable. We agreed that we will accept the decision taken by Madhavan," Muthiah said.

A probe started in India in May after then South African captain Hansie Cronje was charged by the Delhi police with alleged match-fixing. Cronje denied matchfixing but later admitted to a domestic inquiry that he had accepted money in exchange for information from bookmakers.