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BCCI clean chit to 3 Chennai Super Kings players smacks of double standards

Raina, Jadeja, Bravo were accused of receiving Rs 20 cr in kind and cash

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Suresh Raina
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Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur on Monday gave a "clean chit" to Chennai Super Kings players Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo who, according to former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi, received gifts in cash and kind from a Mumbai-based construction tycoon.

A few days ago, a 2013 letter written by Modi to International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Dave Richardson found its way to the world of Twitter. In the letter, Modi tells Richardson that he has information of Raina and Jadeja receiving flats worth Rs 20 crore each. Bravo, he says, accepted the same amount in cash. The ICC, on its part, confirms that it is in receipt of this communication from Modi.

However, Thakur seemed eager to provide a "clean chit" to all and sundry. He forgot that his justification would fall flat. At the ITC Maurya in the capital on Monday, Thakur addressed the media after the selectors picked the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe. Thakur is the convenor of the committee chaired by Sandeep Patil.

Replying to dna's query on why no action had been taken since Modi wrote to the ICC two years ago, Thakur conveniently put the ball in the world body's court.

"All three are international players, and the ICC has not reported anything to the BCCI regarding their wrongdoing," said Thakur. But when asked if there was any investigation into the allegations, Thakur parroted the BCCI's defence that "since the IPL is being monitored by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, the BCCI has no jurisdiction into probing into any allegations (sic). And as no wrongdoing has been reported till date, this should be taken as clean chit to all."

In order to convince the media, or maybe himself, Thakur repeated the words "clean chit" more than a dozen times during his 30-minute interaction with the media.

Simply put, Thakur emphasised on one basic point: the IPL is an international tournament and all matters concerning with betting and match-fixing are thus being investigated by the ICC and that the BCCI doesn't and cannot interfere with any of international body's findings.

Point taken.
But Thakur, a sitting BJP MP, would do well to recall that the BCCI's constitution and the ICC's website describes the IPL as "domestic Indian tournament". And the BCCI has told before the Supreme Court on several occasions that the IPL is a "sub-committee" of the BCCI.

Thakur would also do to clarify how the BCCI's disciplinary committee, chaired by Arun Jaitley, banned S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for their role in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Sreesanth, an international player, was banned for life. Why has the BCCI resorted to different rules for different players?

Going by the BCCI's admission, how come it has no jurisdiction over what's happening during the course of IPL when every single office-bearer of the board is a member of the IPL governing council?

This is simply bizarre because in IPL 2 (played in South Africa), the BCCI had refused the services of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit terming it "too costly", as per the admission of its own secretary.

The ICC, on the other hand, has always maintained that the BCCI should handle all IPL-related issues itself as it is their domestic tournament.

Hopefully, the board secretary will do his homework more efficiently before holding the next media conference. But for now, he cannot escape from answering some basic questions:

1. Why has the BCCI not appointed a probe committee after receiving Lalit Modi's letter through the ICC?
2. Why have the players in question not been summoned, like in the case of Sreesanth and others, to explain their side of story?
3. Why didn't the Anti-Corruption Unit, which was paid a hefty amount for keeping a check on the IPL in 2013, file its report?
4. And, last but not the least, why is the BCCI in a hurry to provide a "clean chit" to any and every player in question?

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