Al Jazeera had claimed that India’s Tests against England in Chennai 2016 and versus Australia in Ranchi 2017 were fixed.
In a documentary released in 2018, Al Jazeera had claimed that India’s Test fixtures against England in Chennai 2016 and versus Australia in Ranchi 2017 were fixed.
The governing body also cleared all five participants, who featured in the programme, of any wrongdoing, saying there is insufficient evidence to lay any charges against them.
During the programme filmed by the channel, an alleged bookie Aneel Munnawar was seen making claims about his dubious connections and history of fixing matches including two Tests involving the Indian cricket team.
Subsequently, the ICC had initiated a probe into the claims.
“The programme alleged that two matches were fixed: India v England in Chennai in 2016 and India v Australia in Ranchi in 2017. To assess whether the passages of play highlighted in the programme were unusual in any way, the ICC engaged four independent betting and cricketing specialists to analyse the claims,” the ICC said in a release after completing its investigation.
“All four concluded that the passages of play identified in the programme as being allegedly fixed were entirely predictable, and therefore implausible as a fix,” the release added.
While ICC did not name the people acquitted, a PTI report claims that former Pakistan cricketer Hasan Raza, Sri Lanka’s Tharanga Indika and Tharindu Mendis were among them. They had apparently joined the investigation, carried out by the apex body.
According to the report, small-time Mumbai first-class cricketer Robin Morris was also filmed but he didn’t take part in the investigation.
“No charges will be brought under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code against any of the five Participants to the Code who featured in the programme due to insufficient credible and reliable evidence,” the ICC said.
ICC’s comprehensive investigation focused on three main areas: the claims made by the programme, the suspects who were part of it and how the programme gathered evidence.
“In the case of the claims aired in this programme, there are fundamental weaknesses in each of the areas we have investigated that make the claims unlikely and lacking in credibility, a viewpoint that has been corroborated by four independent experts,” GM (Integrity Unit) Alex Marshall was quoted as saying in the release.
“On the basis of the programme, the Participants to the Code who were filmed appear to have behaved in a questionable manner, however, we have been unable to assess the full context of the conversations that took place beyond what was seen on screen versus what the Participants claim actually happened.
“This combined with the absence of any other credible evidence means there are insufficient grounds to bring charges under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code,” Marshall said.
(With ICC/PTI inputs)