Mumbai: A spot-fixing approach was reported during the 2024 Ranji Trophy and was duly dealt with by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Based on an inquiry conducted by the board’s Anti-corruption wing (ACSU), the BCCI Ombudsman ruled that video analyst Raja Reddy will “suffer a lifetime ineligibility for offence of corruption under Article 2.1.3 and 2.1.4.” of the code.
The issue dates back to the Andhra-Madhya Pradesh Ranji trophy quarter-final on Feb 23-26 2024 in Indore where Raja made a corrupt approach to Andhra player Girinath Reddy. Raja was working as a BCCI analyst in the said match, having valid accreditation with PMОА access, permitted to sit in the room designated for the Third Umpire and the Match Referee for assistance. The Andhra team manager promptly relayed the information to the ACU official who swung into action.
In his statement to the ACSU, Girinath mentioned that a day prior to the match Raja sought information about the Playing XI and offered him ₹5 lakhs if he gave five runs in two of his overs.
WhatsApp messages preceded a call in Telugu, which the ACU accessed. “The WhatsApp call and chat history show that the respondent repeatedly called Mr. Girinath Reddy, who refused to indulge with the respondent. Mr Girinath Reddy unambiguously told the respondent that he would report the incident to his Team Manager.” Ombudsman Arun Mishra’s order dated Nov 11, 2025 said.
Raja, who had deleted his WhatsApp history, accepted during the inquiry that he called Girinath but denied offering any money to him. In his defense, the analyst suggested he was curious to know the playing eleven because he knew of groupism and other such issues in the Andhra team. Raja had previously served as Video Analyst with the senior Andhra women’s team.
Raja’s claims fell flat based on evidence collected from his mobile phone and emails, which Dheeraj Malhotra, the BCCI ACU manager, mentioned in his inquiry report.
“Several different email IDs were found configured in the respondent’s phone. The emails from his official account showed that respondent had an account with “bet365” which is one of the world’s leading online gambling operator. Further respondent also had an account on Skrill which is a global payments platform, which works as a digital wallet in the process of online money payment and money transfer,” the report said. “In fact during the Inquiry respondent expressly accepted that he used to bet but stated that it was a long time ago. Respondent acknowledged that the bet365 account found installed in his phone belongs to him which was reactivated by him in February 2023, during which time the respondent was a participant as defined under the BCCI AntiCorruption Code.”
The order inferred that Raja had the motive to talk in furtherance of betting and wanted to know the team formation as well as offered a bribe to bowl in a particular manner. Raja was also found to have deposited a sum of ₹787 into his betting account through Skrill.
“Being a participant, his conduct is most deplorable. Betting in cricket that too by participants, is going to destroy the faith of the public in the game and destroy the very spirit of cricket. The importance of integrity in the game of Cricket cannot be overemphasized, particularly in India, where cricket is a hugely popular game and connected with National pride,” the order said. “Betting/satta in cricket is a grave ill. It has the potential to erode public confidence. It must be dealt with strictly.”
