The league, which was played between July 19 and August 15, featured star players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, Washington Sundar and Murali Vijay.
Tamil Nadu cricket is in news again for the wrong reasons.
With the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) setting up investigations into the alleged approaches to at least seven players in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) by alleged bookies, BCCI ACU chief Ajeet Singh and his team will launch detailed probe into the conduct of 2019 matches.
However, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) league's Governing Council has decided to not make any statement on the issue until a committee appointed to look into it submits its report.
The league, which was played between July 19 and August 15, featured star players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, Washington Sundar and Murali Vijay. Even retired famous international players like Matthew Hayden, Dean Jones and Brett Lee from Australia have been contracted by the official broadcaster for commentary.
"It is an inquiry into who has made an approach. And not against any particular player," Singh clarified on Monday. "The players have told us that they received messages," added the former DGP.
The BCCI's ACU is understood to have received many complaints from players of TNPL, which was played in Dindigul, Tirunelvelli and Chennai. DNA has learnt that even before ACU chief launched the investigation, TNCA had already launched similar proceedings after being apprised of the incident by the BCCI.
TNPL has formed a three-member committee comprising a former police, a senior lawyer and a former India cricketer who will conduct their own investigation and table a report.
"The ACU, which was monitoring the TNPL, received information from several players that they were approached through unknown numbers for a period of time. As per the protocols, the players reported it and we are tracking who these numbers belong to. A few players' names are doing the rounds but there is no proof of it," said the ACU chief.
If sources in BCCI are to be believed, then the matter first came into limelight in the 2018 season, where a team successfully defended a paltry total (a match that several players have raised suspicion and is whispered in TN cricketing circles).
"Both teams involved in that game are under investigation," revealed the source.
However, the TNCA has not been apprised about this incident.
Going by an insider, an Indian player is also under ACU radar. "There are few players who played first-class cricket and were part of the IPL teams in the past," said a source. It is understood that even before the three-member panel was formed by the TNPL's GC, the needle of suspicion is over a team which has allegedly put huge money in betting during the league.
Although the BCCI and TNCA are exploring the possibility of only one team, several players who spoke to this newspaper alleged that there were more involved. In fact, a couple of prominent players from the state even spoke to their respective team owners over worrying patterns that emerged from the previous season.
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