In a big relief to three Chennai Super Kings (CSK) players -- Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwyane Bravo -- on the allegations of accepting bribes from bookies, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday clared them off the charges, levelled by former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.
Modi had recently gone on a tweeting spree claiming that Raina, Jadeja and Bravo were close to real estate tycoon Baba Diwan, the owner of HDIL and also a bookmaker. The former cricket administrator had accused the trio of taking bribes both in cash and in kind.
Lalit Modi had also claimed that he had banned Diwan from bidding for any Indian Premier League (IPL) team before its start. Diwan apparently had bribed the players with apartments in different cities apart from monetary bribes.
Modi had also tweeted from his verified Twitter handle that the BCCI and its officials were trying to fool people and media with betting and spot-fixing related issues.
However, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur brushed aside Modi's allegations and told the media that ICC's Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) had looked into the matter and it found no evidence of any player receiving any bribe from Diwan.
"The follow-up is there is nothing in that. If they had found something, they would have reported it back to us. If there is nothing from the ICC on it, it has to be a clean chit," Thakur told the media at a press conference.
"The jurisdiction of the three players was under the ICC because they are international players. And if they have conducted an inquiry, they will be able to say something on the outcome of the ICC inquiry," Thakur added.
ICC had on Sunday confirmed that it had indeed received a letter from Modi and standard procedures were followed. If the players mentioned in the letter are found guilty then they would be summoned in front of the ACSU and further procedures would be carried out. As of now, they have not found any evidence but if they do they will report back to the BCCI regarding this issue, the international cricket body said.
"We are not passing the buck to ICC. When someone plays international cricket, it's the ICC ACSU's responsibility to investigate his deeds. ICC has investigated into the case and ICC is better placed to comment on its outcome. They haven't informed anything in writing to the BCCI," Thakur concluded.
