Five suspended after fixing visits IPL

Srivastava denies claims, threatens to take India TV to court.

NEW DEHLI: Five domestic Indian Premier League (IPL) players were suspended from cricket yesterday after a sting operation by a local TV channel highlighted alleged fixing and corruption.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India said the players were handed provisional suspensions until its investigations were completed. TP Sudhindra, Mohnish Mishra, Abhinav Bali, Amit Yadav and Shalabh Srivastava are first-class cricketers signed to various teams in the IPL.

“The BCCI has decided to suspend these players from all cricket till a preliminary investigation into the whole episode is completed,” said IPL commissioner Rajiv Shukla who added that the inquiry will be carried out by former police officer Ravi Sawani, who has served in the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

India TV showed Sudhindra, of the Deccan Chargers, allegedly agreeing to bowl pre-arranged no-balls in a local amateur match, while Kings XI Punjab player Srivastava was reportedly heard boasting he could do the same in the IPL. The channel claimed it had taped Srivastava telling its reporters he could deliver a no-ball in the IPL for INR1 million (about $18,500). The 30-year-old denied the allegation and threatened to take the TV channel to court. “The voice which suggests that I am ready to spot-fix is not mine,” he told the Indian Express. “I am ready to clarify this. I will definitely file a case against them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2012.