Spot-fixing in IPL: Kings XI pacer says clips are doctored

New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab pacer Shalabh Srivastava, who was shown demanding Rs 10 lakh to bowl a deliberate no-ball in a sting operation by a TV channel, has claimed innocence and said it was a conspiracy to malign him. “I am innocent. The TV clips are doctored. I have told the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) about the incident and I am waiting for instructions from them,” Srivastava said. [caption id=“attachment_309969” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] “I fail to understand whatever is being said about spot-fixing. Also if they (a TV channel) are showing all the video clips, why aren’t they showing the clip where I am allegedly demanding Rs 10 lakh? The voice in that telephonic conversation is not mine. It is very easy to frame anyone with a doctored audio clip,” the bowler was quoted as saying by NDTV. The Allahabad boy now plans to take legal action against the TV channel. “I will definitely file a case against them,” he said. Srivastava said the reporters, who conducted the sting, approached him posing as sports managers. “I must have met them 7-8 times and that too because they claimed to be sports managers. They claimed that they can get us better offers from other franchises. And it’s not only me. They must have met around 50 players from the IPL and I must have spoken to approximately 15 players about them. “All of us were doubtful about them as they always talked about fixing and prodded the players about how much they were being paid by their team owners. All of us were doubtful because contrary to what they claimed (that they were sports management guys), they touched upon controversial topics,” he said. Besides Srivastava, Deccan Chargers bowler TP Sudhindra, a Madhya Pradesh player, was also caught demanding payments for bowling deliberate no-balls. BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said they have asked India TV, the channel that conducted the sting, for the tapes and the IPL Governing Council is meeting in Mumbai today to review the situation. IANS