MCA not to intervene in Ankeet Chavan’s ban, asks player to seek court's help

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has refused to intervene in Ankeet Chavan’s ban case. The body in its apex council meeting on June 11 came to the conclusion of not challenging the apex body BCCI and insisted the Mumbai spinner should seek the court’s order in the given matter.

Ankeet Chavan was one of the three players to be slapped with a lifetime ban by BCCI for their involvement in the infamous spot-fixing scandal in IPL 2013. 

On June 5, as reported by Cricbuzz, Chavan had written a letter to MCA requesting them to revoke his ban and allow him to play again. In his letter, Ankeet cited the Ombudsman’s order (on May 3) that the player’s punishment be reduced by seven years, which technically means his ban was ended in September 2020. However, an MCA official has advised Chavan to visit the court, while asserting it as a BCCI matter.

"The life ban was imposed by the BCCI. As it stands now, the BCCI doesn't want to review it, a policy it has maintained even in previous cases like Mohammad Azharuddin or Manoj Prabhakar. They got reprieves from the courts, something S Sreesanth too had done. Ankeet will have to go to court and obtain an order," said an MCA office-bearer after Friday's meeting, reported Cricbuzz. 

Kerala bowler S. Sreesanth, who was involved alongside Chavan and Ajit Chandilal, got his lifetime ban revoked by the Supreme Court in 2019 and by September 2020, he was eligible to play for Kerala.

"I have not had any communication from the MCA yet. I don't know what I can do," Chavan told Cricbuzz.