BCCI denies getting report on Raina

NEW DELHI/LONDON - The Indian cricket board Sunday rubbished a media report that it was told by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that Suresh Raina was with a woman allegedly linked to an illegal bookmaker during the Sri Lanka tour.

The Sunday Times reported that the Sri Lankans submitted a report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stating Raina accompanied the woman who was known to be an associate of a man linked to a bookmaker.

The discovery was made by CCTV cameras installed at the Indian team hotel in Sri Lanka.

According to the report, BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan’s reaction led to the International Cricket Council launching a probe investigation into the matter.

Srinivasan influenced the SLC to withdraw the report, the paper said.

“The ICC investigation … is believed to be looking into why the Sri Lankans shared the report with the BCCI first when under ICC anti-corruption rules it should have gone straight to the world governing body,” the newspaper quoted ICC sources as saying.

Srinivasan termed the report as “baseless and false”.

“The BCCI has just learnt that several media outlets are claiming that Sri Lanka Cricket submitted a report on Suresh Raina to it and that no action was taken by the Board.

“The BCCI would like to clarify that it has received no such report from SLC. The claims being made by a section of the media are totally baseless and false,” Srinivasan said.

Raina plays for Chennai Super Kings, an Indian Premier League franchise owned by India Cements. Srinivasan is a vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements.