- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
In what could revive the haunting issue of corruption in cricket, India pacer Mohammed Siraj had reported a “corrupt approach” to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-corruption unit (ACU) from an unknown person, who sought “inside news” about his team before the arrival of the Australian cricket team for a full-fledged tour in Australia.
The 29-year-old fast bowler, who is currently playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League 2023, had promptly reported the matter to the BCCI’s ACU, PTI reported.
It is understood that the gambler had lost a lot of money during the India matches and messaged Siraj out of sheer frustration.
India had played white-ball home series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in January-February before Australia arrived.
India won the T20 series against Sri Lanka 2-1 before blanking them 3-0 in the one-day international (ODI) series.
Then against New Zealand, India won the ODI series 3-0 before triumphing in the T20 series with a 2-1 margin, with the Black Caps winning the lone game of the tour in Ranchi.
“It wasn’t a bookie who approached Siraj. He is a driver from Hyderabad who is addicted to betting on India matches. He had approached Siraj via WhatsApp after losing a lot of money on India games,” a senior BCCI source privy to the developments told PTI on condition of anonymity.
“Siraj reported the approach immediately. The law enforcement (Andhra Police) authorities had nabbed the person,” the source added.
The BCCI had beefed up its ACU network ever since the spot-fixing scandal, involving S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and then Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, was unearthed in 2013.
Now, each IPL team has a dedicated ACU official who stays in the same hotel and is there at the ground monitoring all movements.
Also, there is a mandatory ACU workshop for players on the dos and don’ts, and if any player fails to report a corrupt approach, there are sanctions in place.
Bangladesh Test captain Shakib Al Hasan was suspended in 2021 for not reporting a corrupt approach during his IPL stint in the previous season.
(With PTI inputs)
