New Delhi: The raging spot-fixing saga in the IPL turned murkier on Thursday with controversial Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf being withdrawn by the ICC from next month’s Champions Trophy for his alleged role in the scandal.
A week after the sensational arrest of India paceman S Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals team mates on charges of spot-fixing, Rauf’s pull-out from the June 6-23 Champions Trophy added a new twist to the drama.
The ICC said in a statement that Rauf has been withdrawn as he was under investigation by the Mumbai Police, thus becoming the first umpire to come under the scanner in the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Rauf has had a history of controversies and only last year a small-time model named Leena Kapoor had accused him of sexually exploiting her for months before refusing to marry her.
In the ongoing IPL, Rauf had on-field umpiring duty in 13 matches, the last one being in the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad on May 19.
The three Rajasthan Royals players – Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan – are in police custody while actor Vindoo Randhawa, son of the late Dara Singh, has also been arrested by Mumbai Police in connection with the case along with several other bookies.
Chennai Super Kings CEO and Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan, had been issued summons to be present for questioning in Mumbai between 11am and 5pm on Friday.
But the BCCI threw its weight behind Srinivasan, saying that it was unfair to implicate his son-in-law of any wrong doing until the investigations are over.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said people should not “jump to conclusions” that Meiyappan was involved in the scandal until the police complete their investigations.
“The Mumbai and Delhi Police are competent authorities and let them finish the investigations before jumping to any conclusions,” Shukla replied when asked whether Srinivasan should step down from the post of BCCI President accepting moral responsibility for the scandal.
“How can you term anyone guilty before the investigations are completed? ” Shukla said.
Srinivasan was in Delhi on Thursday, but no BCCI sources would reveal his business there. (PTI)