5 players, coaches and owners who got charged for corruption by ICC this week
It's been a rough week for cricket. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has made a series of decisions related to corruption in the sport, with news of either a stakeholder or player getting banned or charged coming almost everyday.
Worryingly, these charges have been met across three T20 leagues and some even involve international matches. It once again sheds light on the sport's constant battle with a culture of illegal betting, which is prevalent in other sports too.
The ICC, on it's part, can only create awareness and impose strict sanctions when someone is found guilty. But eventually, it'll need to find more fool-proof ways to prevent smaller leagues -- with new ones coming up almost every month -- from being this vulnerable. Because if it continues, international cricket would become more and more exposed.
Below, is a summary of the five people who have come under ICC's sanctions this week and why.
#5 Ashar Zaidi
The first case, which came to light on August 7, involved three members of the same franchise -- Pune Devils of the Abu Dhabi T10 -- and relate to the 2021 edition of the tournament. The first to be charged was the batting coach Ashar Zaidi, who is also a former Pakistani all-rounder.
He admitted to two charges -- encouraging someone for corruption and failing to disclose details of corrupt approaches. He'll now serve a five-year ban from all forms of cricket, starting September 19, 2023, which was the day they were first suspended.
#4 and 3 Parag Sanghvi and Krishan Kumar Chaudhary
Now, here's one issue with smaller leagues. One of the other members banned alongside Zaidi was the Devils' co-owner Parag Sanghvi -- who is an Indian film producer and, incidentally, was questioned and even accused of involvement in the 2018 IPL betting case.
The league allowed him to own a franchise alongside one Krishan Kumar Chaudhary and now, they have been charged for betting on matches and non-cooperation with investigation. Both have received two-year-long bans starting September 19, 2023.
#2 Praveen Jayawickrama
Sri Lankan spinner Praveen Jayawickrama was the latest to come under ICC's charges. The international body charged him on three counts, mostly relating to not disclosing corrupt approaches in international matches as well as the Lanka Premier League (LPL).
He was also charged for "obstructing the investigation" by deleting messages of corrupt approaches. The news came out on August 8 but Jayawickrama now has two weeks from the official date of charges, August 6, to respond, failing which the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and ICC will proceed to take actions against him.
The 25-year-old played five matches each across the three formats for Sri Lanka, making his debuts in 2021. His last appearance for Sri Lanka was in 2022 against Australia in a T20I series.
In the LPL, he won the title with Jaffna Kings in 2021, though he featured in just one game and took two wickets.
#1 Ihsanullah Janat
This was perhaps the most disappointing loss to corruption this week. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) banned batter Ihsanullah Janat from all cricketing activities for five years on August 7.
He accepted charges of breaches of ACB and ICC Anti-Corruption codes on match-fixing during the second edition of the Kabul Premier League (KPL), which was organised in June this year.
"Janat was found guilty of violating Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, which involves improper influence or efforts to fix the result, progress, conduct, or any other aspect of a match," the ACB said in a statement.
Janat made his debut in 2017 as a 20-year-old and played three Tests, 16 ODIs, and a T20I for Afghanistan.
He was considered an elegant hitter who was rushed into the throes of international cricket too early for his age, which stunted his progress. A lot of people believed in him even when he didn't score quality runs for Afghanistan. They will now have to wait half-a-decade to see him in action again.