Profile: S Sreesanth
Former Royals pacer Amit Singh was banned for five years for soliciting other cricketers for spot-fixing in the league and Siddharth Trivedi, a regular in the team, was barred from all cricketing events for a year. Trivedi was punished for failing to report that he was approached by bookmakers.
The fifth Royals cricketer, Mumbai spinner Harmeet Singh, 20, was exonerated due to "absence of evidence". Singh was part of India's Under-19 World Cup winning team in 2012. No decision was taken on Ajit Chandila, the alleged kingpin of the spot-fixing racket, as he is yet to be interrogated by BCCI's anti-corruption unit chief Ravi Sawani.
The banned players cannot play "any representative cricket" or in any way "be associated with the activities of BCCI or its affiliates".
Sreesanth tweeted after the ban was announced, "Been tracking the news channels...me getting a life ban??!! Very surprising..." The tweet was later deleted.
The disciplinary committee said it had decided the quantum of punishment "after considering the evidence on record and hearing each of the players in person."
BCCI president-in-exile N Srinivasan was surprisingly a party to the decision made by the committee, which also included Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah.
Jaitley said the committee's decision was binding. "The evidence was different against each of the accused. Since the decision is about the players, it need not be ratified by the annual general meeting or any other body," Jaitley said after the meeting.
Sources told TOI that when the cricketers were called in for the hearing, they "hardly showed any sign of remorse". Instead of being apologetic for their roles in spot-fixing, Sreesanth and others pleaded innocence and said police had framed them.
When the disciplinary committee members reminded them of the rules of the game, and asked them why they forgot to conduct themselves properly or why they did not report any suspicious activity or approach to the anti-corruption unit, the players simply said they were innocent.
Sources said when the board members showed them proof of their crime, the reply was the same. On being asked whether he was aware of what he had done, Sreesanth said: "I have done nothing wrong."
Asked how so much cash was found in his room, the mercurial pacer said: "That was endorsement money. I did not know Jiju (alleged to be Sreesanth's cousin) was a bookie and was involved with a betting syndicate."
Sources said the committee took a soft stand against Harmeet, considering his age and the fact that this was his first brush with big time cricket.
While leaving the hotel where the hearing was conducted, Sreesanth told reporters that he had complete faith in the board and hoped to play for India again. However, BCCI was convinced that it had enough proof to send out a strong message of zero tolerance to the cricketing fraternity. Sources said all banned cricketers are likely to appeal against the decision.
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