Former Ranji player Baburao Yadav was lured by one of the arrested bookie Sunil Bhatia to play in the rebel Indian Cricket league (ICl). Bhatia had taken Yadav to Bangladesh in 2009 on the assurance that he will use his connections with a player of Bangladesh to get him a place in Bangladesh Premier league (BPl).
A senior police officer said that the accused Yadav and Bhatia were confronted on Tuesday evening at the Special Cell’s office in lodhi Road office. Their interrogation has revealed that during the first session of ICl in 2008-09, Bhatia contacted Yadav in 2008 when the rebel ICl was on and tried using him for fixing some matches. The bookie claimed that he had fixed ICl matches.
They reportedly met the player who is now a member of the Bangladesh national cricket team. Bhatia’s plans could not fructify as he was spotted by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of the ICC and he left Bangladesh immediately.In a related development, Bhatia revealed some Bangladesh cricket team players in connection with the spot-fixing.
But Yadav was not selected for the next session and was banned by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as he had played in unauthorised ICl. “After the ICl players were banned, he went to play in Kolkata league where he started to play for a local club team of Kolkata and he was getting only Rs 2,500 but to earn quick bucks; he again approached Bhatia who in turn assured him that he has good contacts with a prominent Bangladeshi and he will help get him into a team,” the officer added.
After luring Yadav, Bhatia then approached his associates and informed them he had lured one player, who will follow their instructions and asked them to arrange other bookies for spot fixing. “Bhatia is a notorious fixer and they had gone in Sher-e-Bangla cricket Stadium, Dhaka to meet their associates but co-incidentally, he was spotted by a team member of the ACU of the ICC. As he got a whiff about it, Bhatia immediately left the country along with Yadav and they returned to India,” the officer added.
Police said that the questioning Yadav and Bhatia have led to suspicion about fixing Bangladesh Premier league (BPl) players. However, they said they have no concrete evidence to suggest that fixing indeed took place. “Bhatia, who have good contacts with Bangladeshi players, may have fixed matches there but they have nothing to corroborate this. Bhatia has claimed that he had fixed matches in Bangladesh Premier league. He said he knows some Bangladeshi players very well and now we are trying to get some evidence against him,” an officer said.
At least 18 people — three IPl players, four former players and 11 bookies and their assistants — have been arrested since last Thursday in connection with the scandal that rocked the cricketing world. Ajit Chandila, S Sreesanth and Ankit Chavan are the three IPl players who were arrested.