Fixing saga missing in BCCI annual report

In their quest to paint a rosy picture on the health of Indian cricket, BCCI President N Srinivasan and former treasurer Ravi Savant’s note in the Board’s Annual Report doesn’t have a single mention of IPL VI spot-fixing scandal.

Secretary Sanjay Patel’s two-page note has a passing mention of the spot-fixing and betting scandal involving big names like former international S Sreesanth and BCCI President’s tainted son-in law Gurunath Meiyappan.

The Annual Report that has a dedicated page on Anti-Doping Methods and Age-Verification Process, also doesn’t mention IPL’s first Indian dope cheat Pradeep Sangwan’s name while it stated that “364 U-16 cricketers failed age verification tests.”

Former treasurer Savant’s note in the report also has ample indications that IPL VI’s sponsorships as well as ticket receipts have seen a drop from last year. The 128-page Annual Report of BCCI has the controversial Tamil Nadu strongman terming the year as “memorable and eventful for Indian cricket”.

However Page-3 of the report that carries the President’s note, only waxed eloquent about the achievements of the various cricket teams including the senior, ‘A’ team, U-19 and U-23.
Srinivasan concluded his note stating, “IPL, in its sixth year, was a great success in terms of cricket content and attendance at all matches”.

Patel, in his secretary’s report (on Pages 5 and 6), never used the word “spot-fixing” anywhere.

Instead, Patel wrote, “The BCCI responded strongly to crisis arising out of IPL VI. The concerns have been addressed and continue to be dealt with and BCCI will do whatever is necessary to protect the game of cricket in India.”

Only in Page 17 of the report, which contains the decisions of the Working Committee during the whole year, has a mention of a probe panel being formed to investigate into charges against Meiyappan.

Incidentally that probe panel’s report has since been termed illegal by Bombay High Court. Page 113 of the Annual Report deals with BCCI’s policies and measures taken in regards to Anti-Doping and Age-Verification Policy.

While it mentions that 82 urine samples were collected from 67 players during IPL-VI from 10 venues (in-competition and out of competition), nowhere does it mention KKR pacer Sangwan’s name, who was found guilty of using performance enhancing drug stanzolol.