Dubai: With alleged bookie Karan Gilhotra is said to have socialised with cricketers likes of Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, the situation is getting murkier with question being asked whether ICC also pull up these players too for their closeness.

The war between BCCI and N. Srinivasan led ICC had become murkier after ICC shot off a letter to president Jagmohan Dalmiya stating board secretary Anurag Thakur’s presence with Gilhotra.

Thakur, a politician turned administrator, has said that he knew Gilhotra due to his political activities in Punjab and not for his activities as a bookie. Interestingly, Gilhotra in his snap with Dhoni is wearing a card with an IPL logo on it. This picture was taken when Gilhotra had gone for the IPL matches in South Africa in 2009.

Gilhotra has defended wearing the IPL card saying it was given to him but he does not remember what was the designation given to him in the card. “I feel that they [ICC] should have investigated the matter properly before coming out and calling me an ‘unverified suspected bookie,” said Gilhotra who hails from Ghaniani near Fazilka in Punjab.

Indian newspapers have launched an extensive investigation into the Ghilhotra’s past and present and found that he owns a Honda dealership and franchise of Salman Khan’s apparel chain. It seems the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) in May last year had described Gilhotra as a “person of not good repute” who was strongly rumoured to be involved in “heavy betting” on cricket. ACU had also alerted all the Indian Premier League team owners about Gilhotra.

Gilhotra has hit out, saying: “It is nothing but an attempt to malign the reputation of Thakur, owing to internal politics. If ICC has put me on the watch list please also share the evedience.”

Thakur feels that Srinivasan hasn’t reconciled with his election as BCCI secretary and is thus trying to malign him in public. His contention is that if he Srinivasan had share the list of suspected bookies he would have kept away from these kind of people.

Srinivasan is under-fire for devaluing India Cements-owned CSK franchise and for alleged spying attempt on BCCI members by hiring the services of a London based private agency. Efforts are also now on by BCCI to end Srinivasan’s role as chairman of ICC.