Rajasthan Royals (RR) have strongly denied the match-fixing allegations made by Jaideep Bihani, the convenor of the Rajasthan Cricket Association’s (RCA) ad hoc committee. The franchise responded with a strongly worded letter, urging action against Bihani, saying his claims were an attempt to tarnish RR’s reputation. Meanwhile, reports suggest the real reason behind these serious accusations might be RR’s refusal to meet the RCA’s demand for complimentary tickets.
BCCI Backs Rajasthan Royals
Speaking to The Times of India, a BCCI official dismissed the match-fixing claims and confirmed that the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) is currently dissolved. “The RCA is currently dissolved. An ad-hoc committee is in place, and with elections coming up, there’s a lot of drama—everyone wants to be in the spotlight,” the official said. He also assured that the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit is keeping a constant watch over IPL activities. “Our anti-corruption team works round the clock to keep the game clean. There’s no truth to these allegations,” he added.
The BCCI official’s response came after Rajasthan Royals sent a strongly worded letter to the board, addressing the match-fixing accusations made by the RCA ad-hoc committee.
Controversial Ticket Dispute Behind Allegations
Speaking to The Times of India, a Royals insider explained, “At the start of the season, the BCCI clearly told us that since the RCA is dissolved, we’d be coordinating with the Rajasthan State Sports Council (RSSC) for all arrangements.”
They went on to add, “A disgruntled member of the RCA ad-hoc committee, along with his associates, has been demanding an unreasonable number of complimentary tickets. We refused, and that’s the only reason behind all this unnecessary drama.”
According to the report, the RCA previously received around 1,800 complimentary tickets for each home game. That number has now been cut down to about 1,000–1,200. A similar situation came up with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who also declined to meet the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s (HCA) ticket demands. However, unlike in Rajasthan, the HCA didn’t respond with any match-fixing accusations even though SRH haven’t been performing well in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals (RR) are struggling this season, sitting at eighth place on the points table with only two wins from eight matches. A couple of narrow defeats have made their path to the IPL 2025 playoffs even tougher. Up next, they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in an away clash on April 24. After that, they’ll head back home to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to take on Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 28.
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