Despite not informing the team of the rape charges on him, Nikhil Chaudhary is set to return to Hobert Hurricanes for the BIG Bash League.
The player was found not guilty in March, by a jury for allegedly raping a 20-year-old woman in a car in Townsville in 2021. Cricket Tasmania says it was not informed of the charge or court action.
Chaudhary played nine games last BBL season, averaging 26 with the bat and taking five wickets in a Hurricanes side that missed the finals.
Here’s what the Hurricanes management says
One thing to notice is that not only Chaudhary didn’t inform his team about the charges, he even went as far as to extend the contract with the Hurricanes until 2027 in February, just a month before his trial started.
Cricket Tasmania’s high performance general manager Salliann Beams told reporters the organization was still going through “internal processes” in relation to Chaudhary. She said he would likely play the upcoming season.
“[There are] some legalities through that process,” Beams said on Tuesday.
“It’s not so much the incident because we know that nothing happened … legally not guilty and everything.
“It’s just the disclosure of information. We want to know where we sit on that because we were completely in the dark.”
Beams “disappointed” about Cricket Tasmania not being informed of the charges
Beams said she was disappointed about Chaudhary not informing Cricket Tasmania about the charges or court proceedings.
“You have to deal with the organization’s point of view and the impact that it could potentially have on that,” she said.
“Because you don’t really want to associate yourself with … that type of investigation.
“But at the same time, you can understand from the players’ point of view that, you know, they’ve done nothing wrong and it’s a scary place.
“[You’re] legally advised not to say anything, so you’re always balancing different sides of the story.”
Beams accepted that she was proud of how Cricket Tasmania handled the scenario and made sure every person was managed the best way possible through the process.
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