BCCI's probe panel interrogates Shalabh Shrivastava

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Ravi Sawani, heading the inquiry committee set up by the Indian cricket board to probe the latest spot-fixing allegations in the sport, interrogated one of the five suspended cricketers, Shalabh Shrivastava, here on Wednesday.

Sawani, who heads the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-corruption unit, met Shrivastava at a five-star hotel here. The probe panel, which is expected to submit its report to the BCCI within 15 days, will meet the other four suspended cricketers in the coming days.

They are T.P. Sudhindra (Madhya Pradesh-Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Madhya Pradesh-Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav (Goa-Kings XI Punjab), and Abhinav Bali (Himachal Pradesh). Shalabh is from Uttar Pradesh and player in Kings XI Punjab.

NDTV reported that Shalabh Shrivastava flew in from Pune to assist the probe ordered in the wake of a sting operation by a TV news channel that claimed spot fixing and corruption in the domestic cricket, including the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is learnt that Sawani and his team questioned Shrivastava for almost an hour.

The sting called ‘Operation IPL’ showed cricketers, including Kings XI Punjab fast bowler Shrivastava, negotiating with undercover reporters for underhand deals in the ongoing IPL. The footage also showed another medium-pacer, Sudhindra, discussing the amount he would charge for bowling a no-ball during a local T20 tournament in Indore.

Shrivastava, who has played for Uttar Pradesh on the domestic circuit, earlier pleaded innocence and said he was being framed.

“I am innocent. The TV clips are doctored. I fail to understand whatever is being said about spot-fixing. Also if they (a TV channel) are showing all the video clips, why aren’t they showing the clip where I allegedly demanded Rs.10 lakh? The voice in that telephonic conversation is not mine. It is very easy to frame anyone with a doctored audio clip,” he had said.

A rattled BCCI barred the cricketers on Tuesday and kept inquiry pending after examining the footage received from the news channel which conducted the sting.