My son has never been to UK or Australia: Alleged fixer Joban’s dad

NEW DELHI: Father of the former Delhi age-group cricketer, caught in the Ashes spot-fixing controversy, says his son has never even been to England or Australia, let alone fix matches involving the two countries. In a sting operation conducted by British tabloid ‘The Sun’, Sobers Joban, along with another alleged bookie Priyank Saxena, are seen claiming that they can fix Ashes Test in lieu of 140,000 pounds.

However, the ICC’S Anti-corruption Unit has clarified that there has not been any evidence of corruption in the ongoing Test in Perth. “My son has never been to UK or Australia and they (The Sun) are claiming that he could have fixed an Ashes Test,” Baljeet Joban said.

“...he only goes to Dubai and Russia. Russia, because he has a Russian girlfriend whom he will marry,” added Joban Senior, who runs Lal Bahadur Shastri Coaching Centre (not the famous LB Shastri Club of which Gautam Gambhir is a part). His club is located in Vikaspuri.

“I am not letting Sobers speak to anyone. No one from ICC ACU has contacted us,” he informed.

In the sting, Joban was seen with Saxena, who was hauled up by cops last year for an alleged fraud case wherein the latter had promised to get a woman cricketer a break in a state team.

To this Baljeet’s reply was: “I can’t keep track of everything that my adult son does. I don’t know about his friend circle. All I know this is a part of a larger conspiracy.”

Baljeet is one among the innumerable regulars seen hanging around with powers that be in the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) at the Ferozeshah Kotla. He had been an administrative manager of various Delhi age group teams (U-19 and U-15) with blessings of former DDCA president Sneh Bansal, a former BCCI vice-president. Bansal, incidentally, was removed after allegations surfaced that he was involved in financial irregularities in the DDCA to the tune of ~1.5 crore. “Yes I am Sneh Bansal’s man and will remain his loyalist,” Joban said.