Mohammed Shami has been given a clean chit by the Board of Control for Cricket in India over match-fixing allegations and this has resulted in him being included in the Grade B section of the annual retainer contracts.

Special Correspondent

Mohammed Shami, facing serious allegations from his estranged wife Hasin Jahan,received a boost to his cricket career after a Board of Control for Cricket in India probe report said on Thursday that it did not find any evidence of match-fixing against the pacer.

The Board gave him the all-clear on receiving the report from it’s Anti-Corruption Unit chief Neeraj Kumar, who had investigated claims by Mohammed Shami’s wife that a payment the pacer claimed to have received from a Pakistani national in Dubai could be linked to corruption.

BCCI immediately announced that Shami has been included in Grade B of the player annual retainer contract. The India pace spearhead was left out of the list following allegations raised by his estranged wife. Hasin Jahan filed a criminal complaint that Shami had cheated on her with several women. The allegations included attempt to murder against the player.

A BCCI statement said following the probe report submitted by Neeraj Kumar, former Delhi Police Commissioner, the Committee of Administrators decided no further actions/ proceedings under the BCCI anti-corruption code was warranted against Shami.

Shami faced a slew of allegations from his estranged wife on his return from the South Africa tour and the BCCI not including him in the annual contracts raised serious doubts about his career. The BCCI clean chit should also pave the way for his participation in the 2018 Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils.

Shami has repeatedly rejected all allegations against him.

The BCCI had introduced a new A+ category in the new annual retainer contracts, with the likes of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma in that category worth Rs seven crore. Grade B category contracts are worth Rs three crore.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to investigate the charges levelled against Shami by his wife Hasin Jahan.

The Committee of Administratoris, led by Vinod Rai, had given a seven-day deadline to BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) head Neeraj Kumar to submit the report on the issue.

This direction came after cricketer’s wife levelled various allegations, including of match-fixing, against the fast bowler.

Though Jahan retracted fixing allegation, the Committee of Administrators had taken note of it and asked the ACU to investigate the matter.

Earlier, a case was registered against Shami on the basis of a written complaint filed by his wife Hasin Jahan, who has claimed that the Indian cricket team bowler had been having extra-marital affairs. There were charges of mental and physical abuse by Shami against his wife.