Players from Nagpur who wanted to progress had to go through club allegedly run by ex-BCCI chief's son.
The IPL spot-fixing scandal is getting murkier by the day as the unholy nexus between the bookies, cricketing clubs, cricketers and criminals is coming to light. More skeletons are expected to tumble with the arrest of two bookies, Manish Guddewar and Sunil Bhatia, and a nondescript cricketer, Baburao Yadav from Nagpur, the city that is the home of ex-BCCI president Shashank Manohar.
Interestingly, Guddewar (who played 11 Vijay Hazare Trophy matches) and Baburao had played for the same club, Indian Gymkhana, allegedly run by Adwait Manohar, son of the former BCCI chief.
Two years ago, Baburao was a key player for Ruby club and wanted to make a comeback in the Vidarbha Ranji Trophy team. “Indian Gymkhana, run by Adwait, could have played a key role in his comeback. That is why Babubhai left Ruby Club, for which he played for the last eight-nine years, and joined Indian Gymkhana,” said a Vidarbha player on condition of anonymity.
Shashank Manohar and Adwait also represented Indian Gymkhana in their cricketing days.
It is learnt that players from Nagpur who have gone on to higher levels, including Preetam Gandhe and Alind Naidu, have represented Indian Gymkhana before making it to the national team. India pacer Umesh Yadav is also from this club.
In fact, Baburao obtained a NOC for five years from its current employer, South Eastern Railways, on the insistence of Adwait, sources told dna.
“In the last two years, we have seen changes in Babubhai. He’d talk more about real estate properties in and around Nagpur and not cricket. We are still surprised why he left Ruby Club and joined Indian Gymkhana,” said a former Ruby club player.
Baburao’s association with Sreesanth goes back to their struggling days when both shared a room at the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai. Sreesanth would always visit Baburao’s house whenever he used to come to Nagpur. Baburao is also said to be very close to Irfan Pathan and Mohammad Kaif, among other Indian cricketers, sources alleged.
The other bookie arrested, Bhatia, is the brother-in-law of Mikki Bakshi, a known mafia don in Nagpur charged with many cases of extortion and murder. He is allegedly a close associate of Nitin Gadkari and Satish Chaturvedi, erstwhile guardian minister of Nagpur.
Bhatia has also allegedly opened an office in Dubai for betting.
Punters close to Guddewar in Nagpur revealed that he’d always say, ‘Yeh IPL toh bookies hi chalate hai’ (bookies run the IPL).
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}