The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) team will check if Punjab Kings all-rounder Deepak Hooda’s Instagram post on Tuesday breaches the anti-corruption guidelines, as per ANI reports. The 26-year-old posted a picture which showed him putting on the team helmet, seemingly indicating his participation in Punjab’s game against the Rajasthan Royals.
The BCCI ACU team is headed by Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala. The team, with a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, monitors the league and players’ behaviours.
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As per the guidelines, the agency restricts any talk of the team’s composition ahead of the game.
An ACU official, speaking to ANI, said while the Instagram post missed the team, they will definitely look into it to see if it violates the rules set by the BCCI ACU.
“ACU will look into this post. Our restrictions are that there shall not be any talk about the composition of the team,” the official said.
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Hooda had posted the picture at 2 PM, about five and a half hours before the game’s kick off time. “Here we go @punjabkingsipl #pbksvsrr #ipl2021 #saddapunjab,” he wrote in the caption.
Last year, then-ACU chief Ajit Singh had said that social media interactions were being closely monitored by the agency.
“See, while the number of venues is less, the hurdles of physical movement due to the coronavirus pandemic also means that approaches if any will be made through social media. So, we are going to be closely monitoring the same and ensuring that there is nothing that escapes the team’s eyes,” he had told ANI last year.
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“Yes, it is handled by their teams in some cases. But at the end of the day, it is their accounts. So, the players must have a team around them which is aware of these things and no sooner they see anything suspicious, they should report the same to us. It has to be a joint effort,” he had explained.
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Neither BCCI nor the Punjab Kings have issued any official statement in this matter.
Rajasthan Royals defeated the Punjab Kings in a last over thriller on Tuesday. The season, which was halted due to multiple cases across the eight franchises, resumed on September 19 with Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings.
