BCCI, ICC rubbish report about 29 IPL Players under scanner

Dossier that never was?

BCCI, ICC rubbish reportu00a0about 29u00a0IPL Playersu00a0under scanner

Rumour mills have been working overtime ever since the News of the world newspaper broke the story about three Pakistani players having links with bookmakers two weeks ago.after a report in The Australian which said that a star player had to be pushed up the order to prevent him from batting slowly on purpose, there were reports in Sri Lanka about Dilhara Fernando and T Dishan being under the International Cricket Council scanner.

IPL vice-president Niranjan Shah

Yesterday, it was The Sunday Times which came up with a shocking story that as many as 29 players were being scrutinised by the ICC for their activities in the second edition of the Indian Premier League held in South Africa.while there was no detailed statement from the ICC, a spokesperson told MiD DAY: "The report is no true."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India didn't come up with a statement too, but a high-ranking Board official rubbished the report. "This is strange. If the ICC had prepared a dossier as the newspaper claims, then why were the Boards not sent a copy? It appears someone is trying to tarnish India's image since the IPL is an Indian domestic tournament," he said.

IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah rubbished the report too. "There is no substance in this report. The ICC should have informed the respective boards about it in such a case. But nothing of this sort has been conveyed to the BCCI," said Shah.The Sunday Times reported that a list, compiled by the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), includes some high-profile names, but none from England or Pakistan.

Pakistan's players did not take part in the Twenty20 tournament.u00a0 "Some betting patterns were very suspicious at IPL 2," the newspaper quoted a source as saying. "The case of the three Pakistani cricketers (Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt) was quite evident. But there is nothing in this report that makes you believe in it. I am sure all editions of the IPLs were clean," said Shah.

However, it should be noted that the suspended IPL boss Lalit Modi had refused to pay the $1.2 million fee that the ICC had asked for Anti Corruption services prompting concerns from the former head of the ACSU, Paul Condon. "We were worried, not because we thought there were fixes but because there was no real infrastructure to prevent them," Condon had said of the first two IPL tournaments.