Veteran Indian paceman Mohammed Siraj had been reportedly approached by a gambler to seek insider information about the Indian cricket team. This was ahead of the India-Australia Border Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 and Siraj had duly reported the incident to the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) and the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU).
The ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is already in progress and the cash-rich league attracts a lot of gamblers and betters who indulge in unfair activities. This raises the eyebrows of all the regulating entities who are continuously monitoring all the developments of the 16th edition.
Mohammed Siraj’s Complaint Raise Alarms for BCCI
Mohammed Siraj’s inputs have raised the alarm for the BCCI, ACU, and Cyber Crime Department. According to the reports, the man who approached Mohammed Siraj was not a bookie but an addictive gambler who lost a lot of money in betting activities. He was a Driver by profession.
As soon as Mohammed Siraj reported the incident, BCCI reported it to the ACU and Cyber Crime who nabbed the unnamed person from Hyderabad. The accused wanted to earn money through gambling and wanted to obtain critical information on the Indian team that was going to play against Australia before the IPL.
Notably, the BCCI reinforced the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) after the IPL Spot Fixing Scandal in 2013. Three Rajasthan Royals cricketers including Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankit Chavan were caught red-handedly and the bookies were soon arrested. Based on the police investigation, the management of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings were also involved which resulted in a 2-year ban for the two eminent franchises.
The BCCI along with the ACU has been dedicatedly working to ensure that no fixing reports are being surfaced and all the activities are restricted. All the players have to report any such incident that was highlighted by Mohammed Siraj. Previously, Shakib Al Hasan was banned from all forms of International cricket in 2019 after he also failed to report an incident when approached by a bookie.
