Azhar said: "They asked and they replied," when asked if he had admitted to fixing matches.

A senior official of the CBI said, "We in the CBI do not answer the questions on behalf of those who are under investigation. The answers given by Azhar were recorded and shown to him, and he endorsed them. There is no question of the CBI asking the questions and answering them on his behalf."

He asked: "If Azhar is innocent as he claims to be, then why did a bookie hand over to him a mobile phone early this year?; why were his hotel and shopping bills picked up by the bookies?; why did he make endless number of calls to bookies during matches?.

"We have print-outs of the calls to prove our point."

CBI official spokesman S M Khan reiterated that the agency has not closed its investigation in the match-fixing case, particularly against Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma, who, he said, are government servants and can be prosecuted for possessing properties disproportionate to their known sources of income.

"We are still investigating the matter and looking for more information in this regard," Khan said.

Another CBI official added Azhar is not the only one to admit his involvement in match-fixing. Even Ajay Sharma, who was examined in England, had confirmed certain facts about the former India skipper's involvement; besides, the statements of Mukesh Gupta, who was introduced to Hansie Cronje by Azhar, also proved that Azhar knew the bookies, he said.

"The fact that Gupta had stayed in the same hotel where the South African team was staying proves that Cronje is telling the truth. Now if someone goes ahead and says Allah will prove that he is innocent, there is very little that the CBI can do about it," said the official.

The CBI is now awaiting BCCI's vigilance commissioner K Madhavan's report, which will be presented to the cricket board on Saturday.

"We have done our job and now let the BCCI handle the rest," he said.