Was the India-England 2016 Chennai Test fixed? ICC responds

Top Stories

Indian captain Virat Kohli with the trophies after winning the fifth and final Test against England in Chennai on December 20, 2016. (AFP file)
Indian captain Virat Kohli with the trophies after winning the fifth and final Test against England in Chennai on December 20, 2016. (AFP file)

Dubai - The programme alleged that two matches were fixed: India versus England in Chennai in 2016 and India versus Australia in Ranchi in 2017

By ANI

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Mon 17 May 2021, 4:57 PM

Last updated: Mon 17 May 2021, 5:12 PM

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has concluded its investigation into the documentary programme ‘Cricket’s Match Fixers’ broadcast by Al Jazeera on May 27, 2018.

No charges will be bought under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code against any of the five Participants to the Code who featured in the programme which alleged that two international matches were fixed.


“No charges will be bought under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code against any of the five Participants to the Code who featured in the programme due to insufficient credible and reliable evidence,” ICC said in a statement.

The programme alleged that two matches were fixed: India versus England in Chennai in 2016 and India versus Australia in Ranchi in 2017.


To assess whether the passages of play highlighted in the programme were unusual in any way, the ICC engaged four independent betting and cricketing specialists to analyse the claims.

All four concluded that the passages of play identified in the programme as being allegedly fixed were entirely predictable, and therefore implausible as a fix.

All five Participants to the Code who featured in the programme have been interviewed by the ICC Integrity Unit and there is insufficient evidence based on the normal thresholds applied through the Code to lay any charges.

Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager – Integrity, said: “We welcome the reporting of alleged corrupt activity within cricket as there is no place for such conduct in our sport, but we also need to be satisfied there is sufficient evidence to sustain charges against Participants.

“In the case of the claims aired in this programme, there are fundamental weaknesses in each of the areas we have investigated that make the claims unlikely and lacking in credibility, a viewpoint that has been corroborated by four independent experts.

“Should any new substantial evidence come to light I will re-examine the case. But at present I am comfortable with the conclusion of the investigation and the thoroughness with which it was undertaken,” Marshall concluded.


More news from