Mohammed Shami cleared of corruption charges by CoA; lands Grade 'B' contract with BCCI

India speedster Mohammed Shami will get his central contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after all, with the Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators (CoA) giving their green signal.

The BCCI had earlier kept Shami's contract on hold following accusations of adultery, domestic violence, and corruption from the pacer's wife Hasin Jahan. The CoA, though, had asked the board's anti-corruption unit (ACU), led by former Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar to investigate Jahan's allegation of Shami receiving money from a Pakistani woman at the insistence of an England-based businessman.

File image of Mohammed Shami. Reuters

On the basis of the report submitted by the Neeraj Kumar panel, the CoA has cleared now Shami of corruption charges, and according to a release on the BCCI's website, Shami will now have a Grade 'B' annual retainership contract with the board worth Rs 3 crore. KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya are some of the other members of the Indian team with Grade 'B' contracts.

BCCI acting president CK Khanna had earlier said that Shami's participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year rested solely on the BCCI ACU's report. After the latest set of events, Shami's path towards representing Delhi Daredevils in the tournament that starts off on 7 April has been cleared.

Jahan had earlier accused Shami of taking money from a Pakistan woman Alishba in Dubai at the behest of a businessman, whom Jahan described as going by the name 'Mohammad Bhai'. The businessman though, categorically refuted Jahan's allegations.

"Neither have I done anything wrong, nor am I associated with such things. I never talked of match-fixing or offered money to anyone. I was born in India and won't ever let my country down," 'Mohammad Bhai' was quoted as saying according to International Business Times, although he did admit to socialising with the Bengal pacer.

Alishba, on the other hand, admitted to meeting Shami in Dubai last month, but claimed she never met 'Mohammad Bhai'.

Shami, who has more than 200 international wickets to his credit, took to social media to rubbish the allegations against him.

"Ye jitna bhi news hamara personal life ke bare may chal raha hai, ye sab sarasar jhut hai, ye koi bahut bada humare khilap sajish hai or ye mujhe Badnam karne or mera game kharab karne ka kosis ki ja rahi hai (All these news reports about our personal lives are completely false. This is a big conspiracy against us and there is an attempt to malign me and harm my game), Shami wrote on social media.