The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) has run into troubled waters with a few first-class cricketers and a couple of coaches coming under the BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit's scanner for suspected match-fixing.
BCCI's ACU chief Ajit Singh, however, ruled out the possibility of any international player being a suspect. The TNPL, owned by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, started in 2016 and features eight franchises.
"Some players have reported that they received WhatsApp messages from certain unknown people. We are trying to find out who those people are. We have recorded the statements of the players and we will try to track the senders of the messages.” said Ajit Singh, BCCI's ACU chief
“There is no international player...any player who has got the message, he is supposed to report it to us, it’s part of his obligation,” he added.Ajit Singh, BCCI’s ACU chief
While no names have been revealed yet, allegations of match-fixing have emerged and are being related to one particular mid-table franchise in the TNPL, which many believe has gained notoriety over the past couple of years.
"This franchise finished among the last three in the eight-team TNPL table. There are a lot of grey areas related to their ownership patterns. Their choice of players and coaches has also not been above board," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
In fact, there is one lesser-known coach, whose role could come under the scanner. The particular coach has earlier also been involved with franchises with suspect dealings.
“Nothing can be ruled out. There is one coach, who was related with a tainted IPL franchise, later coached a Ranji team and was, for one season, related to a TNPL franchise that is under the scanner.”BCCI source
There have always been questions about the credentials of this particular coach as to how he landed IPL support staff jobs as well as contracts in these state franchise league teams.
"How come this guy, who has not even played proper first-class cricket, is so sought after?" said a source.
The TNPL had earlier hit the headlines when former India cricketer VB Chandrasekhar, who owned the franchise Kanchi Veerans, committed suicide allegedly over the debts he incurred in the league.
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