Reports: Mohammed Siraj approached by gambler for Team India's inside information, pacer reports action to BCCI, ACU
Siraj was approached by the accused before Australia's tour of India in February, earlier this year.
As the T20 fever is spreading over the entire nation with the Indian Premier League season 16 in full swing, several reports of betting have also come to light from all over the country. Recently, a gambler from Hyderabad reportedly contacted cricketer Mohammed Siraj in order to recover his lost money through betting.
According to the reports by The New Indian Express, the person who works as a driver wanted some insider information from Siraj on Team India before Australia landed on Indian soil for the full-fledged tour. The matter was reported by the pacer to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) before the tour itself.
As reported, the information was immediately sent to the cyber police who worked closely with BCCI and ACU and nabbed the person. The accused contacted Siraj and asked him for his help to help him make money through betting. A BCCI source revealed that the person wasn’t a bookie and worked as a driver in Hyderabad.
"It wasn't a bookie who approached Siraj. It is a driver from Hyderabad who is addicted to betting on matches. He had lost huge money and approached Siraj for inside information. Siraj reported the approach immediately. The law enforcement authorities have nabbed the man. More details are being awaited," a senior BCCI source was quoted as saying.
BCCI has reinforced its ACU unit after the spot-fixing scandal of 2013
Since the IPL spot-fixing scandal of 2013, where S Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan, and Ajit Chandila were arrested along with former CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, BCCI had reinforced its ACU work.
Now, each team has a dedicated ACU official who stays in the same hotel and is also present on the ground monitoring all the movements. A mandatory ACU workshop is also conducted for players where they’re informed about do's and don'ts and if any player fails to report any approach, then they’re sanctioned.
Notably, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was banned from all forms of cricket in 2019 for a year by International Cricket Council’s ACU as he failed to report an approach by a bookie during his IPL stint in the 2018 season as well as the Tri-Series in Zimbabwe in the same year.
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