CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi, the Indian first-class cricketers who have formerly played in the Indian Premier League, have been arrested in connection with spot-fixing during a domestic T20 competition in India.

The arrests, which came to light on Thursday, November 7, were made by the Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru, after investigations found that both cricketers indulged in spot-fixing during the Karnataka Premier League [KPL], including this year’s final, where they are alleged to have taken money in exchange for fixing parts of the game.

These are the latest – and highest profile – players to have been busted, in a series of arrests made around the tournament in the past week.

What is KPL?

The Karnataka Premier League is one of several 20-overs-a-side tournaments that sprung up in the country during the T20 boom, featuring domestic cricketers from the state of Karnataka and established by the state association. The tournament began in 2009, immediately after the success of the IPL, a creation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and borrowed from the tournament’s franchise-based model.

Eight seasons of the tournament have been played so far. Current Indian cricketers, such as KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey have been part of the tournament at different points in their careers.

For three seasons, in keeping with the spirit of ‘sportainment’, the tournament featured a team comprising actors from the local film industry. This was one of the reasons the KPL has always been regarded with some scepticism, despite official sanction.

Who are the arrested cricketers?

Both Gautam and Kazi are alleged to have deliberately batted slowly in the KPL 2019 final between their team, Bellary Tuskers, of which Gautam was the captain, and Hubli Tigers.

According to a statement from Bengaluru Police: “They did spot fixing in the KPL 2019 finals between Hubli and Bellary. They were paid INR 20 lakhs [£ 21,938] for slow batting, and for other things. Also, they fixed another match against Bangalore team.”

Gautam opened for Tuskers and scored 29 off 37 balls, at a strike-rate of 78.38, in the side’s chase of 153, while Kazi scored a 6-ball 13 at No.9. Tuskers eventually lost by eight runs.

What’s next?

Before Gautam and Kazi, the police arrested two more cricketers, Nishant Shekhawat and M Viswanathan, in relation to fixing in other games of the KPL. According to reports, Shekhawat acted as an intermediary between the players, and a bookie going by the name of Monty.

The police have also arrested Ali Ashfaq Thara, the owner of the now-suspended KPL franchise Belagavi Panthers, Bengaluru Blasters bowling coach Vinu Prasad, as well as Bhavesh Bafna, who also played drums for the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The statement mentions that subsequent investigation is likely to lead to further arrests.

The cricketers are likely to face lengthy bans from the game, but it begs the question, yet again, whether corrupt acts such as these have an appropriate punishment in the law book.

Last year, the Law Commission of India advocated the need to deem match-fixing as a criminal offence in the country. In India, there is still no specific law against fixing; in other words, match-fixing or spot-fixing is not illegal in India yet. Accused cricketers and bookies are instead tried under laws dealing with organised crime, fraud and cheating.

Given that spot-fixing tends to be an isolated act, it makes it relatively difficult to ascertain corrupt games from an overall perspective. The alarming degree of corruption, at different levels of the sport, brings back the same question once again: how clean is the game?

Related tags:

Global T20 Leagues