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Cricket News: The ICC has taken strict action against Indian-origin cricketer Akhilesh Reddy, who plays international cricket for the United States, and has banned him for eight years. He has been found guilty of match-fixing. The investigation has revealed that Reddy had deliberately tried to fix matches by inciting a fellow player during the 2025 Abu Dhabi T10 League. Not only this, but Akhilesh had deleted important chats and call records from his mobile phone after the investigation began. 

After being found guilty of these serious charges, the ICC has banned him from participating in all cricket activities until November 21, 2033. The ICC had previously provisionally suspended Reddy from November 21, 2025, which is now considered the start of his ban.

Who is Akhilesh Reddy?

Bodugum Akhilesh Reddy, 26, grew up in Hyderabad. He has also played for the Vijay Hazare Trophy team in his domestic cricket career in India. He also trained as a net bowler for IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, in search of better opportunities, he moved to the United States and became a member of the national team. Reddy is a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler. He has played four T20 Internationals for the United States, taking one wicket. He made his international debut against the Cayman Islands in the North America T20 Cup.

What is the whole matter?

The entire match-fixing case relates to the 2025 Abu Dhabi T-10 tournament. During the tournament, the ICC was managing the anti-corruption unit on behalf of the Emirates Cricket Board. During one of the matches, Reddy allegedly asked a teammate to deliberately concede runs while bowling at the team hotel a few hours before the match started. However, the player refused and immediately informed the ICC’s anti-corruption unit. Based on this complaint, an investigation was launched, in which Reddy was found guilty.

What charges was he found guilty of?

The ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal found Reddy guilty on three separate charges: first, attempting to influence or fix a match; second, inciting another player to participate in match-fixing; and third, attempting to destroy evidence by deleting WhatsApp chats and call records from his mobile phone during the investigation. 

Reddy claimed that he regularly deleted data from his phone, but the tribunal rejected this claim. The investigating agency believed that the data was deleted intentionally to destroy potential evidence.

American cricket tarnished once again

Akhilesh Reddy’s case comes at a time when American cricket is already under fire for corruption allegations. Earlier this year, another American international cricketer, Aaron Jones, was provisionally suspended in an alleged corruption case to the BIM10 league in Barbados. He was accused of concealing information about the corruption and failing to cooperate with the investigation. The continued emergence of such cases has raised questions about the credibility of American cricket.