Kerala pacer S. Sreesanth and two other players of the Rajasthan Royals Indian Premier League team have been arrested by the Delhi Police and charged with spot-fixing in the on-going tournament.
Sreesanth and the others, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, were arrested in a secret swoop at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai, where they were staying, and will be brought to Delhi to be produced in court.
The police have also arrested seven bookies. Police sources said the players have been accused of spot-fixing in different matches this week. They also said that the arrests were part of an investigation conducted over months by the special cell of the Delhi Police into alleged spot-fixing in the cash-rich IPL tournament, the sixth edition of which is being played now.
The Rajasthan Royals franchise, which is co-owned by Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, has said in statement that, “We are completely taken by surprise… We will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation. The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game.” (READ full statement)
30-year-old Sreesanth, a veteran of 53 ODIs and 27 Tests, has been in controversy before over a fight with spinner Harbhajan Singh in the 2008 edition of the IPL.
Chandila, 29, has played for Haryana and the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL previously. Chavan, 27, has played for Mumbai.
Spot fixing is the manipulation of a particular ball or wicket in a cricket tournament, which is then betted upon.
Betting on sports is illegal in India but is allegedly big business in the IPL and is run by underground syndicates in Mumbai and other parts of the country. Sources said bookies often operate out of vehicles now to avoid detection.
Tags: Cricket IPL Sreesanth
so dravid fixed matches 😀
The ‘Gentlemen’ and one of the best player of Spin came at No.8 v/s KKR.
Sign of Spot…. ❓
i dont mind the IPL fixed to be honest. IPL is for entertainment. the case of international matches is different. also these 3 RR players probably got caught as they have a poor network. i dont think any major cricketer and the owners of the franchises are out of the loop
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Rajdeep Sardesai @sardesairajdeep 9m
Srinivasan abuses our correspondent who asks him if he is resigning. Will have to beep the conversation #ibnnews
@rahulkanwal Spoke to N Srinivasan about arrest of son-in-law. ‘Shut up, just shut up. I will fix the whole lot of you.’
Arun Venugopal @scarletrun 41m
Me: Hello Mr. Srinivasan, This is Arun from The Hindu. N. Srinivasan: Just shut up! (hangs the phone) #kolaveri #spotfixing
I’ve to face reality, perfect time to retire from IPL: Sachin Tendulkar
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who called it quits from the IPL after Mumbai Indians lifted the title, said it was the perfect time to retire from the Twenty20 event as he has to “face the reality” after turning 40.
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“I think this is the right time to stop playing IPL. I am 40. I have to face the reality. I had decided that this would be my last season. And now the ending is perfect,” Tendulkar said after Mumbai beat Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs at the Eden Gardens on Sunday to lift their maiden IPL trophy.
Tendulkar, who played 78 IPL matches accumulating 2334 runs at an average of 34.83, had to stay out of the final after failing to recover from a left hand injury that he picked up a fortnight ago in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The veteran, who scored one century and 13 half-centuries during his overall IPL stint, played just 14 matches this season making 287 runs at an average of 22.07 with 54 being his highest.
“For the World Cup I had to wait for 21 years and this (the IPL) for six years. So, it’s never too late. This is my last IPL. It’s the perfect way to end it,” a jovial Tendulkar said after his team’s triumph.
“I have got to be realistic here. I’ve enjoyed my six seasons with MI. It’s been fantastic journey. This season was superb. We thought our third season was the best but this one is the icing on the cake,” he added.
The affable right-hander, however, did not specify whether he would compete for Mumbai in the Champions League Twenty20 which is scheduled for October.
“I can’t wait to hold this trophy. I waited for six years. I can never thank the fans enough. A big thank you to all the supporters who enjoyed cricket. Cricket is the winner and we have been able to produce some fantastic cricket here,” he added.
Asked about how it felt playing at 40, Tendulkar said, “Anil (Kumble) said that 40 is just a number. We have worked hard together. Even on optional practice because despite all the travelling everyone turned up.
“Things don’t come easily, you have to work hard for them. It’s exciting but you have to alter your body clock in the grind of IPL because matches finish after or close to midnight. And, sometimes we catch a flight at eight in the morning making all the adjustments that are required,” he added.
On whether he would be tempted to play the Mumbai Indians opening match at the Wankhede next season, Tendulkar said, “It’s tempting. But this is the best point. Thank you very much, now I can’t wait to touch the trophy.”
This is the second format from which Tendulkar has announced his retirement after having called quits from the ODIs in December last year right before the series against Pakistan.
Tendulkar went out from the ODIs after amassing 18,426 runs in 463 matches at an average of 44.83. The diminutive right-hander has an astonishing 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred — the first in this form of the game.
The cricket fans will now have to wait till the end of the year when Tendulkar is likely to be seen in action against South Africa in a three-Test series where he is expected to complete a historic 200 Tests.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl/news/Ive-to-face-reality-perfect-time-to-retire-from-IPL-Sachin-Tendulkar/articleshow/20287166.cms
Raj Kundra has admitted to betting in IPL, claim police sources
Raj Kundra, a co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals, the team at the centre of a massive spot-fixing and gambling scandal, has admitted to betting in the Indian Premier League or IPL, claimed sources in the Delhi Police, who interrogated the businessman all day yesterday.
Police sources said that Mr Kundra said that he placed bets on the IPL “for the last two-three years.” Betting on all sports except horse-racing is illegal in India. The penalty for betting, according to rules laid down by the Board of Control for Cricket India, is suspension for upto two to five years.
The police is unlikely to book Mr Kundra for gambling, which is a bailable offence. The police says it wants to focus on establishing links between bookies and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s crime syndicate or “D Company.”
The Royals have four owners including Mr Kundra’s wife Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty.
To prevent him from leaving the country, Mr Kundra was made to hand over his passport to the Delhi Police yesterday.
Three cricketers from the Royals including S Sreesanth were arrested last month on charges that they took money from bookies to concede a pre-determined number of runs in the recently-concluded edition of the IPL. The players have denied the allegations.
Spot-fixing, in which a specific part of the match but not the outcome is fixed, is illegal.
A player from the team, Sidharth Trivedi, who has turned approver in the case, has allegedly told the police that before an IPL match in Ahmedabad, he was approached by Mr Kundra’s business partner, Umesh Goenka, who asked him about the pitch and which cricketers would play for the Royals that day. The cops want to know if Mr Kundra was aware of this incident, and of the reported links between bookies and some of his team-members.
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