Did bookies ever approach Sourav Ganguly to fix matches? Here's the truth

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) handed the team's captaincy to Sourav Ganguly when Indian cricket was rocked by a match-fixing scandal.

With no anti-corruption mechanisms in place at the time, the situation was indeed very grim. 

Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ganguly have been often asked whether they had, at any time during their careers, been approached by bookies to fix games.

All these great players have always denied the same. While nobody can argue about their integrity, one can never rule out the possibility of  them having been approached.

 It now turns out that their version was in fact true.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, a former bookie revealed that neither he nor those in his circle had the guts to approach Dada.

“During the time Sourav Ganguly was the captain, most bookies wanted him to fix matches. Not just him, even Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, because they knew if they could have them on their side, they could influence the entire team as per the odds. But, they also knew that it could never happen, because Dada was one of the most patriotic captains. The bookies were scared to approach him as they knew, he would turn them in. So, it was a grown consensus that Ganguly cannot be sold and no one had the guts to approach him, as it could put their business into jeopardy,” he said.

Times of now changed and cricket boards across the world are now educating players and strengthening anti-corruption processes.

The last instance of match-fixing in Indian cricket occurred in 2013 during the IPL.

Since then however, no case has been reported and BCCI has enjoyed a lot of success on this front.