KARACHI: Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla’s executive assistant Mohammed Akram Saifi has been accused of asking for sexual favours as a prerequisite for selection in the local state team. According to reports in India media, Uttar Pradesh (UP) cricketer Rahul Sharma has claimed – in a sting carried out by Hindi news channel News1 – that Akram asked for prostitutes in return for a spot in the UP side. The news channel also brought to light a taped phone conversation between Sharma and Akram, in which the latter can be heard asking the cricketer to send women to his hotel in New Delhi. Sharma further stated that Akram was also involved in issuing fake age certificates to ensure that local players could easily take part in age-group tournaments. When contacted on the matter, Akram brushed aside the allegations stating that this was scheme to defame him. “The boy says he sent a girl to me. If his allegations are true, then he should have played cricket, right? Did he? No. His allegation would have been proven had he played for UP,” Akram said according to The Indian Express. “Never once has his name appeared in the 60-player list of UP, neither has he played any junior cricket.” Rajeev Shukla’s version on the matter is still pending- according to The Indian Express – as all calls and messages to the IPL chairman went unanswered. Published in Daily Times, July 20th 2018.