Lonwabo Tsotsobe: Former No.1 ODI bowler denies any involvement in match-fixing scandal

Left-arm pacer Tsotsobe has played five Tests, 61 ODIs and 23 T20 matches for his South Africa.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe: Former No.1 ODI bowler denies any involvement in match-fixing scandal

New Delhi: Discarded South African pacer Lonwabo Tsotsobe denied any involvement in a fixing scandal and said that he has co-operated with Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Tsotsobe, who was the top-ranked ODI bowler in 2012, feels that 'There’s a lot of speculation going around' related to match-fixing.

"There’s a lot of speculation going around. I’m not going to entertain anything but Cricket South Africa can do anything they need to do to check if we did any match-fixing with the people that they are investigating.

"I’ve given them everything they want. My phone bills, my messages, my bank accounts, everything. They said they would get back to me,” Tsotsobe told Wisden India.

Earlier, former Proteas limited-overs batsman Gulam Bodi was banned for 20 years for admitting he conspired to recruit players to fix matches, or parts of matches, during last year's domestic Twenty20 competition.

Subsequently, South African media reported that eight players were approached by Bodi and last month former Proteas wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile was alleged to be one of the eight.

Tsolekile has denied any involvement in the scandal and now Tsotsobe, who like Tsolekile is a former teammate of Bodi's at domestic level, has moved to clear his name.

Left-arm pacer Tsotsobe has played five Tests, 61 ODIs and 23 T20 matches for his country. The 31-year-old, last player represented the Proteas at the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

However, according to media reports, CSA has declined to comment on Tsotsobe on Thursday, saying the match-fixing investigation was ongoing.

Indian-born Bodi was found guilty of approaching players to fix games for betting syndicates, with leaked investigation documents saying players were offered up to $US50,000 ($A69,380) per game to under-perform.  

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