Former Team India manager denies that he claimed India-England Test was fixed

MS Dhoni and Sunil Dev

Sunil Dev, the former DDCA secretary whose statements had come out accusing the Indian team to have engaged in match-fixing in the 2014 Test against England in Manchester, according to a sting operation carried out by a Hindi daily Sun Star, has now come out in vociferous denial of any such allegations.

Dev, who was the manager of the Indian team on the 2014 England tour, told TOI on Sunday, "It is all rubbish. I am planning to sue this Hindi daily and will seek legal recourse against anyone else who makes such malicious claims." 

The video, which was shown to media persons on Sunday in Delhi, showed the official making venomous allegations against the Indian team and the captain MS Dhoni. According to him, the team management had decided that it would be wise to bowl first in that match, as the pitch was covered and the conditions were cloudy.

However, Dhoni opted to bat first after winning the toss – a decision that backfired spectacularly. India lost their first four batsmen with 8 runs on the board, and the match by an innings and 54 runs.

"Given the conditions of the pitch due to rain, we had decided to bowl first in a team meeting but I was surprised that Dhoni opted to bat first," the official had said.

The video also showed him saying that he was 100% sure that Dhoni had involved himself in match-fixing practices with respect to that match. He also said, however, that he had worked with the BCCI for 40 years, and that he would back out if he was ever pushed into making an official claim.

He had however said that he had typed out a letter in the former BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s office, writing his suspicions in front of him to avoid a leak.

Sunil Dev is a senior cricket administrator, but he was barred from being DDCA Chief by the High Court. With his recent flip-flop, his reputation has only gotten worse. However, what will bother the fan even more is that Dhoni’s reputation might take a little besmirching from this incident as well.