The International Cricket Council banned an individual named Deepak Agarwal for two years Monday.
Deepak in the press release has been identified as an Indian businessman who owned a franchise in the 2018 T10 League held in the United Arab Emirates.
The ban was sanctioned after Deepak admitted to obstructing an ongoing anti-corruption investigation.
Six months of this two-year ban is however, suspended due to the cooperation he has offered since admitting his violation of the Anti-Corruption Code.
Deekap, who owned T10 team Sindhis for a while, was charged as a participant under the Code for unfair practices during the 2018 edition of the tournament.
ICC has banned Deepak Agarwal from all cricket for 2 years, with 6 months of that suspended,after he accepted1charge of breaching the Anti-Corruption Code.He was charged as a participant under the Code,He was one of the team owners of the Sindhi’s franchise in the 2018 T10 League
— Saleem Khaliq (@saleemkhaliq) April 29, 2020
The decision from the ICC has stirred wide discussion in the Bangladesh cricket fraternity and subsequently it was revealed that this Deepak is the same that was involved in the case of suspended Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan.
Former Bangladesh captain Shakib was handed a ban from all forms of cricket for two years, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
Shakib had failed to report multiples corrupt approaches made to him.
In the ICC reports, Shakib had mentioned one individual also named Deepak Agarwal.
As per the ICC reports, Shakib had maintained communication with Deepak for more than a year.
#DeepakAgarwal, an #Indian businessman, admitted to obstructing an ongoing anti-corruption #investigation.#Cricket @ICC https://t.co/sFwNEYEFFF
— Outlook Magazine (@Outlookindia) April 29, 2020
Some of the messages communicated between Shakib and Deepak had raised eyebrows in the cricket community.
Monday, as per Anti-Corruption Unit’s detailed report, Agarwal was charged for destroying evidence in collusion with an unidentified “Mr X”, who is also described as a participant.
“Mr Agarwal instructed Mr X to delete all the messages they had entered into between each other and to delete his number from his phone before attending the ACU investigation,” ICC mentioned in the press release.
Article 2.4.7, under which Deepak was charged, deals with “...concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information which is relevant to an ongoing investigation.”
Under the provisions of the Code, Deepak chose to admit the charges and accepted the sanction in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing.
