3 cricketers who were approached for corruption purposes
Cricket, like all other sports, has been prey to corruption in the past. There have been many attempts by criminals to tarnish the gentleman's game. Administrators try their level best to keep the game clean through constant monitoring by the ICC's anti-corruption unit.
Indian pacer Mohammad Siraj recently reported a corrupt approach made to him during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). He received a call from an unknown person who wanted inside information about the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team that he represents in the IPL.
Siraj immediately reported the matter to the BCCI's anti-corruption unit.
Several other cricketers have been approached by such people in the past. Here's a look at three such players:
#1 Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan, who is arguably Bangladesh's greatest of all time, has been approached by bookies multiple times, including during the IPL in 2018. Shakib failed to report multiple approaches to the concerned authorities.
In October 2019, he was banned by the ICC from all cricket for two years, with one year of that sentence suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code.
#2 Siddharth Trivedi
We all know about the spot-fixing scandal which tainted the 2013 IPL and led to the arrests of S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila. During the investigations, Siddharth Trivedi, another cricketer part of the Rajasthan Royals, confessed to the cops that he too was approached for fixing purposes.
However, he was guilty of not reporting the same, which led to him being banned for a duration of one year. Unfortunately, for him, Trivedi never got another chance in the cash-rich league.
#3 Mohammad Nawaz
Mohammad Nawaz, who is now an integral part of Pakistan's T20 and ODI teams, was approached by a bookie in January 2017 when Pakistan went to Australia. His national contract was terminated and he was also slapped with a fine of PKR 2,00,000. He acknowledged that he had erred by not reporting the matter but also confirmed that he did not indulge in any corrupt practices.
He was banned by the PCB for a duration of two months for failing to report an approach that was made to him by a bookie. He was also interrogated by the PCB in relation to the 2017 spot-fixing scandal that rocked the Pakistan Super League.