Pune Devils owners, batting coach, banned on corruption charges

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has handed out bans to Abu Dhabi T10 League's team, Pune Devils co-owners team co-owners Parag Sanghavi and Krishan Kumar Choudhary, along with batting coach Ashar Zaidi for various breaches. Zaidi has been banned for five years, while Sanghavi and Choudhart have been slapped with two-year bans after they accepted all the sanctions imposed on them. All charges relate to the offences committed at the 2021 edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

The bans are backdated to September 19, 2023, the date on which they were provisionally suspended. Zaidi, Sanghavi and Choudhary were among eight people charged by the ICC in September last year on behalf of the UAE board. Nasir Hossain, the Bangladesh all-rounder, was the most prominent member among the other five to be banned. He received a two-year ban last year and is eligible to return to cricket in April next year.

The sanctions accepted by Sanghavi, Choudhary and Zaidi are:

Ashar Zaidi

Article 2.1.4: Directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any participant to breach Article 2.1 (Corruption)

Article 2.4.4: Failing to disclose to the anti-corruption officials the full details of any approaches or invitations received to engage in corrupt conduct under the code

Parag Sanghavi

Article 2.2.1: Placing bets on the results, progress, conduct or other aspect of international and domestic matches

Article 2.4.6: Failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation in relation to possible corrupt conduct under the code

Krishan Kumar Choudhary

Article 2.4.5: Failing to disclose (without unnecessary delay) full details of any incident, fact, or matter that comes to the attention of a participant that may evidence corrupt conduct under the code by another participant

Article 2.4.6: Failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with any investigation in relation to possible corrupt conduct under the code

The ICC further adds, "Mr Sanghavi and Mr Choudhary will be re-eligible to participate in cricket from 19 September 2024 while Mr Zaidi will be re-eligible to participate in cricket from 19 September 2027."

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