IPL 2020 was a grand success for the BCCI and Indian cricket as it was held amidst the coronavirus pandemic in a bio-secure bubble in the UAE. Although IPL managed to overcome the coronavirus pandemic, it still fell prey to the age-old ills of fixing. A recent case has emerged which luckily did not get out of hand. In an Indian Express report, it has emerged that a Delhi nurse approached an Indian player for inside information on IPL 2020 on September 30. The player apparently was in touch with the nurse as he had sought her advice on precautions against the coronavirus pandemic. The Indian Express report quoted a BCCI source which said that the approach was made and the player immediately reported it to the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit.
Ajit Singh, the BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit head, said the matter was now closed after thorough investigation. Ajit Singh even said that the nurse, who posed as a doctor in a South Delhi hospital, was also called in for questioning but nothing concrete emerged out of the situation and thus no further leads were found.
According to the BCCI source that was speaking to the newspaper, it emerged that the unnamed India player had known the nurse only through social media and they were in touch. In one interaction, the nurse apparently wanted to bet and had asked him for the playing 11 and the match. This angered the player who threatened to report this matter to the police. The nurse informed that she would ‘delete all the messages and not inform anyone.’
The BCCI ACU has come down hard on bookies and approaches following the 2013 spot-fixing scandal that saw Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals banned in 2016 and 2017. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were all banned, with only Sreesanth making a competitive comeback as he was picked in the Kerala squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy beginning on January 10.