MUMBAI: In a bid to further beef up anti-corruption initiatives during IPL, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed retired top cop Ajit Singh as head of its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). A 1982 Rajasthan cadre officer, Singh retired as director-general of police, Rajasthan in November 2017.
Singh will take charge ahead of 2018 season of IPL and will be based out of BCCI headquarters at Cricket Centre, Mumbai. The ACU would look to strengthen its hold on the game to protect its image from getting tarnished further.
IPL has been rocked by controversies from time to time, including allegations of match-fixing, spot- fixing and other such non-gentlemanly activities. Two teams, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, make a return to IPL’s 2018 edition after a two-year suspension on grounds of irregularities involving individual players and team management.
IPL apart, the game of cricket was recently rocked by the ball tampering affair in the ongoing Australia-South Africa series where several Aussie players were accused of tampering with the ball in the last test match, throwing not only cricket in general but also cricket Australia into crisis.
Aussie captain and vice captain Steve Smith and David Warner, respectively, have been banned for 12 months from playing any international cricket, while batsman Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months. All three players have apologised and accepted responsibility in an emotional press conferences after being kicked off the tour and returning home last week. BCCI on 28 March 2018 banned Smith and Warner from this year's IPL.
Meanwhile, former police commissioner of Delhi Neeraj Kumar has been retained as advisor to ACU of IPL till 31 May 2018.
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