New Delhi, August 3: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has imposed an eight-year ban on American cricketer Akhilesh Reddy for violating three rules of the Anti-Corruption Code. The 26-year-old was found guilty by an Anti-Corruption Tribunal in connection with corrupt activities related to the 2025 edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This decision follows Reddy’s temporary suspension, which began on November 21, 2025. The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had appointed the ICC as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (DACO) for this league.
According to the ICC, Reddy’s suspension will be effective from the date of his initial suspension. The tribunal’s formal action revealed that Reddy violated three key rules under the Anti-Corruption Code.
The ICC stated, “Article 2.1.1: Attempting to fix or improperly influence the outcome, progress, conduct, or any other aspect of matches in the ADT10 2025. Article 2.1.4: Inducing or assisting another player to breach Article 2.1.1 in one or more matches of ADT10 2025. Article 2.4.7: Deleting data and messages from a mobile device to obstruct the DACO’s investigation.”
These allegations stem from an incident that occurred on the morning of November 19, 2025, just before the opening match of the tournament. The tribunal found that Reddy contacted a teammate, identified as ‘Player A,’ and requested to concede extra runs as per the team management’s instructions.
When ‘Player A’ rejected this proposal and reported it to the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), he was removed from the playing XI just before the match. Regarding the third allegation, Reddy admitted to deleting WhatsApp messages and call logs with ‘Player A’ on the morning of November 19.
Although Reddy claimed this was a routine ‘data hygiene’ process on his iPhone, the tribunal dismissed his argument, stating that he intentionally destroyed evidence that could have substantiated the charges against him.
The punishment was announced after a lengthy hearing by a three-member tribunal chaired by Michael J. Beloff KC, along with Justice Kate O’Regan and Lloyd Mheishi. Reddy made his international debut against the Cayman Islands in the North America T20 Cup and has taken one wicket in four T20 international matches for the USA.
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