Update: The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said it will launch an ivestigation into the matter.
"We have taken note of the sting and will examine the entire matter. We will be asking the channel for the audio and also examine the player involved. Until we speak to the people involved, it is difficult to say anything as of now," BCCI's ACU chief Ajit Singh was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
A Uttar Pradesh cricketer has accused Indian Premier League chairman Rajiv Shukla's aide Mohammed Akram Saifi of asking him to send prostitutes to a five-star hotel in order to secure a place in the state team.
A report on The Indian Express says Hindi news channel, News 1, ran a taped phone conversation between Akram and Rahul Sharma, the Uttar Pradesh cricketer who has claimed to be a victim of the "sex-for-selection" row.
Sharma also alleged Akram would provide fake age certificates to players who would then go on to play age-group tournaments, which are organised the apex body of Indian cricket.
A few other players who were on the show alleged that Akram would ask them bribes in return for a place in the team. Despite not holding any official position in the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, the Shukla's executive assistant exercises a lot of power, the cricketers said.
If the allegations are true, he should have played for UP: Akram
However, Akram has denied all the allegations and insisted that the group of players is tarnishing his name, considering he is associated with the IPL boss. He also pointed out that Sharma never made it to the junior team, let alone the senior state team.
Akram also questioned why it had taken three years for Sharma & Co. to reveal the allegation to the public but the news daily confirmed the TV show didn't reveal the date of the recorded phone conversation.
"The boy says he sent a girl to me. If his allegations are true, then he should have played cricket, right? Did he? No. His allegation would have been proven had he played for UP," Akram said. "Never once has his name appeared in the 60-player list of UP, neither has he played any junior cricket," Akram said.
He added: "The truth will come out soon, I'm associated with such a big man (Shukla) so it's natural that people will attack me from all corners. This is done by dissatisfied people, including those close to me. Yeh pura ek khel hai bahut logon ka [This is all a game for a lot of people]. There is a group of some 15-odd people who were involved in this. Why's this allegation come now if the incident dates back to 2015? Why is he coming out in public in 2018?"
UPCA open to inquiry
Meanwhile, UPCA joint secretary Yudhveer Singh has dismissed charges of corruption in the selection and said the state body was open to an inquiry.
"We are open to any inquiry. We follow a very transparent selection process at the UPCA. I can't comment on the conversation between the two as it is their personal matter," Singh said.
"I have checked about Rahul Sharma and found out that he has never even been a part of the state probables. He has no credibility," he added.
However, this is not the first team such allegations has been floated in Indian cricket teams.
In 2015, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had accused a Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) official of asking for sexual favours from a journalist's wife in return for their son's selection into the state team.
