Ace pacer of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Mohammad Siraj has reported a ‘corrupt approach’ to the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). As per the report, an unknown person, who is considered to be a taxi driver, wanted inside information about RCB from him.
Siraj, who has been performing splendidly with the ball in the ongoing IPL championship and has taken eight wickets so far, said that someone approached him, and he immediately reported the matter to ACU officials who are with the team.
The man who approached was not a bookie but rather a taxi driver from Hyderabad and betting is his habit. Therefore, he lost a huge amount of money in betting and approached Siraj to get inside information from him, as per the source.
The law enforcement authorities came into action and arrested the man. “More information regarding the matter is awaited,” the source added.
Earlier, someone tried to contact Siraj during the ODI series against Australia held in March this year; he did the same and reported the matter to Anti-Corruption Unit officials.
The BCCI is serious about stopping any kind of match fixing, so it has intensified its ACU network since the emergence of the fixing scandal involving Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, and Ajit Chandila, and then CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan in 2013.
Every participant side has an ACU official who stays in the same hotel and minutely monitors all the happenings on the ground. If any player fails to report a corrupt approach, there are sanctions in place.
Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh, was suspended in 2021 after he failed to report a corrupt approach during his IPL engagement.
Currently, RCB is in eighth place with four points. The team emerged victorious in two matches but lost three.