Murali not so innocent

Jarryd

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Muralitharan rubbishes rumours

Cricinfo staff

September 16, 2005


Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's master spinner, has dismissed rumours regarding his alleged connection with a Mumbai bar dancer and, through her, with the betting syndicates.

Over the past week there has been intense speculation in certain sections of the Indian media on the renewed threat of match-fixing. A few Indian and foreign players - who were not mentioned by name, but the insinuations weren't so subtle as to require much second-guessing - were alleged to have connections with various known bookies.

"I have travelled to Mumbai on a few occasions in recent years for official award ceremonies and to attend to family business matters," said Murali in a statement. "On one occasion, I met actor Aditya Pancholi who invited me to dinner. Afterwards, we visited Deepa Bar for approximately one hour before I returned to my hotel.

"Contrary to media speculation, I have never been introduced to and nor do I have any links whatsoever with a woman called Tarannum Khan, who was apparently a dancer in the Deepa Bar. In addition, this was also the only occasion in my life that I visited this particular bar.

"Recent media reports of my close alliance with this bar or the dancer are therefore total fabrications. I have been associated with a match-fixing controversy on the basis that I innocently patronised a bar a few years ago, which I believe is grossly unfair."

The controversy was sparked off following the arrest of Khan, a regular dancer in a suburban Mumbai bar, whose inordinate wealth apparently put the police on her trail. The income tax department had raided her Mumbai residence recently and recovered money to the tune of 50,000 US dollars from there. Khan claimed the money was hers and denied any connections with the bookies.

The police, following certain recent much publicised initiatives, are reported to have uncovered proof on the nexus between big-time bookies, the Hindi film industry and organised criminal gangs. The dancing girls are seemingly a small but indispensable cog in this diabolical wheel.

One Bollywood producer, in fact, was claimed to have links to the Kenyan allrounder Maurice Odumbe. The Mumbai police had prepared a dossier on this cricketer and sent it to the International Cricket Council. Subsequently, this allrounder was banned from international cricket by the Kenyan Cricket Board.

Meanwhile, Pancholi has denied being summoned by the Mumbai police's crime branch section to be interrogated on his links to the betting syndicates and to Khan. "A summons can be issued only after a case is registered," he maintained, "and that power is vested with the courts not the police."

Murali has further explained that: "Representing Sri Lanka as a cricketer is a truly great honour and a source of immense personal pride. I have always strived to perform to the very best of my ability and have maintained at all times while doing so the highest ethics of the game.

"It is thus deeply upsetting for my family and I that such wild allegations are now being made. I have therefore spoken to my lawyers and I am taking all necessary steps legally available to me in order to safeguard my reputation and integrity."

"I will not be making any further public statements on this subject," he added


Well well well. If this was Warnie tabloids'd be all over it!
 
aussie1st said:
Another spinner in trouble. :(
Where? I don't see any actual evidence of Murali doing anything wrong in this article. JarryD thinks there is, but he has a serious grudge against Murali, as he is under the delusion that he is a chucker, even though his action is within the laws of the game.
 
Its hard to chose who to believe. There is so much of this crap in the media like the Beckham case. Did he cheat or not? Same applies here. You can never tell if its real or fake.
 
This is the Indian tabloids, of course they are going to fabricate or overblow trivial things. He's innocent until he is proven guilty.
 
spinners nowadays are being pulled up for everything like their actions and etc that is nice to hear murali will be out of action
 
pal said:
This is the Indian tabloids, of course they are going to fabricate or overblow trivial things. He's innocent until he is proven guilty.
With JarryD though, Murali is guilty even after being proven innocent.
 
This is just another rumour. Don't take this highly. I also read some few days ago that there was some match fixing going in New Zealand Series, just because India lost to New Zealand. And that bardancer was also supposed to be involved in that.

For me nothing is true.
 
Yeah its true that news.
It was in the news papers ..
India have fixed the final against new zealand and quite possible too.
After scoring 277 they should not have lost especially when their bowlers were int he
best of form during the series.


I think match fixing may have taken place as just before the zimbabwe tri sereis the former indian captain mohammed azharuddin was given additional police protection.
The bar dancer is supposeed to have been in contact with murali and a bollywood actor. pancholi
 
iceman_waugh said:
Yeah its true that news.
It was in the news papers ..
India have fixed the final against new zealand and quite possible too.
After scoring 277 they should not have lost especially when their bowlers were int he
best of form during the series.


I think match fixing may have taken place as just before the zimbabwe tri sereis the former indian captain mohammed azharuddin was given additional police protection.
The bar dancer is supposeed to have been in contact with murali and a bollywood actor. pancholi

until its proved, nothing is true, mr. iceman!!

The ICC has said that there are no investigations going on about it! So lets stop talking abt it
 
i agree with you saisrini but the build up has led me believe that there might just be something going on.
lets hope nothing of that sort is there or we'll lose our players once again.
 

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