HARARE – Gaurav Rawat, a wealthy Indian businessman who has previously faced match-fixing allegations in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, has been named by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the person behind a US$30,000 bung offer to former Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer in 2017.
Cremer reported the match fixing approach to the ICC in October 2017 after he was offered the money through former Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board member Rajan Nayer, acting as the go-between. Cremer was being asked to throw matches during the West Indies’ tour of Zimbabwe.
Nayer, who was marketing director of Harare Metropolitan Province Cricket Association at the time, was found guilty by the ICC of match-fixing in May 2018 and banned from the game for 20 years.
“On October 9, 2017, Mr Nayer engaged in a telephone call with Rawat, during which Nayer, at Rawat’s request, agreed to call Cremer, then captain of the Zimbabwe men’s senior national representative cricket team and ask him if he would be interested in fixing matches between Zimbabwe and the West Indies,” wrote the ICC, identifying Rawat as the mastermind behind the plot.
Cremer reported that approach to Zimbabwe Cricket’s anti-corruption manager, Robson Manjoro, who in turn reported it to the ICC.
Former Zimbabwe Cricket director Enock Ikope was last week banned for 10 years over his involvement in the corruption.
The ICC has hailed Cremer and Zimbabwe Cricket for blowing the whistle on the corrupt approach.
