Cairns vs Modi: Players stand by Cairns accusations

Two of the players named in court evidence against Chris Cairns have stood by their statements about the former New Zealand international's involvement in match-fixing during live video link evidence from India. Their testimony formed part of the sixth day of hearings in Cairns' libel case against Lalit Modi, the former commissioner of the IPL, at the High Court in London.

Cairns is suing Modi for defamation over a 2010 tweet that implicated him in fixing. Cairns denies the reason for his dismissal from the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008 was in linked to alleged corruption, maintaining that failing to disclose an ankle injury was behind his suspension.

Gaurav Gupta and Karanveer Singh, two of Cairns' former Chandigarh Lions team-mates who have made separate accusations against him, appeared via a video link-up from Delhi. Gupta, a batsman who played first-class cricket for Punjab, has alleged that Cairns told him to score "no more than five runs" during a match between Chandigarh and Mumbai Indians.

Questioned about evidence given by Andrew Hall, the former South Africa international who succeeded Cairns as captain of Chandigarh, Gupta denied telling Hall that the instruction had been given by Dinesh Mongia.

"No, Chris Cairns told me between the innings and on the pitch as well," Gupta said. It has previously been claimed in court that Cairns joined Gupta in the middle, with the latter on 4, and told him to "Get out now".

Karanveer, a legspinner who was 19 at the time, described a meeting in which Mongia, a former India international, allegedly told him and his father that everyone within the ICL, from "top to bottom" knew about fixing. He said that he was "shocked" and "broken from inside" to hear Mongia's claims.

He described a subsequent conversation with Cairns that took place during training, in which Karanveer was asked if he had spoken to Mongia.

"This talk was about match-fixing, I was very much convinced," Karanveer said, though Cairns did not refer to any specific instructions. Karanveer added that he did not report either Mongia or Cairns to the ICL because he was scared that the blame would be shifted on to him.

The court is due to hear from Rajesh Sharma, another witness for Modi, this afternoon.