Two Gujarat Lions players allegedly involved in booking

The IPL has always been the hub of controversies since its inception in 2008. Whether it was the 2013 Rajasthan Royals spot fixing case or the suspension of Lalit Modi in 2010, the cash-rich league has always been on the top of the headlines. A similar fixing case turned up in Kanpur before the Gujarat Lions and the Delhi Daredevils at the Green Park stadium.

The Police arrested 3 suspects from the Landmark Hotel in Kanpur which was the host to the GL and DD teams for that venue. Kanpur’s superintendent of police, Akash Kulhari, identified the suspects as Ramesh Nayan Shah, a businessman from Thane and two locals Ramesh Kumar and Vikas Chauhan. The BCCI through a press release had informed on Thursday that the Anti-Corruption Unit of the BCCI had been tracking activities of these men before they were arrested.

Cash of about 41 lakhs was seized from their rooms. Also, during interrogation the police came across the names of two Gujarat Lions players who are allegedly involved in this act. One of his Whatsapp message revealed that the Gujarat Lions were too lose the match even after scoring over 200 runs.

“Although Ramesh had nothing to do with pitch preparation activity, he had bragged to the bookie that his access to Green Park groundsmen will help him tamper with the pitch. Additional water would make the pitch damp and it would be a low-scoring affair,” a BCCI source said “The Anti-Corruption Unit of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been tracking activities of certain individuals, as a result of which, three suspects were arrested in Kanpur, on Thursday,”

Ramesh Kumar had a contract to put hoardings at the Green Park stadium. Shah was in touch with a bookie from Ajmer named Bunty whose search is on. Possibility of Shah being in touch with these two players has not been ruled out, but has not been confirmed yet.

A similar incident had a few days ago in Delhi when the Delhi police arrested six suspects from the Farsh Bazar area of Shahdara. The suspects were captured with two laptops, two LCDs, a notepad, and 22 cellphones. On investigating their bank accounts, it was revealed that they were involved in transactions of over a crore rupees.

Cricket so called as the gentleman’s game is stained on a regular basis with such incidents surfacing repeatedly. IPL being one of the most money driven leagues pose serious threats towards the sanctity of the game. The BCCI is now pursuing actions to limit the interaction of the players with public during the tournament to thwart such instances.