The 28-year-old pace bowler lost his Rs. 7.5 lakh gold chain from the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) dressing room. He had left the 250 gram chain on a chair before heading to the ground to play for Uttar Pradesh against Rajasthan in the Vijay Hazare One-Day cricket tournament on Monday.

“No international matches are being staged on this ground now and hence there are no CCTV cameras installed and in the absence of footage, it is extremely difficult to chase the victim,” the police officer added.

However, the VCA president Prakash Dixit, when contacted, says that CCTV are there in the pavilion but the thief is not caught: “We have all the facilities at both the grounds, the old VCA Civil Lines stadium and the new VCA Jamtha Stadium and it is up to the police to investigate the matter.

“Praveen Kumar has said it was a lucky chain for him and he appreciated our efforts.” said Rathod. “Within two minutes of his complaint at our police station, we accompanied him to the ground.

“We inquired with the ground staff and players of the Rajasthan team also,” he continued. “Praveen Kumar has almost lost his hope of recovering the chain.

“He has refused us to interrogate his team-mates as it would portray the wrong signal.

“We shall still investigate the matter for few more days before the file is closed,” he concluded.