The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s anti-corruption unit has been investigating cases of alleged match-fixing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and has zeroed in on an India player, an Indian Premier League regular and a Ranji Trophy coach, the Indian Express reported on Monday.
According to the newspaper, bookies and match-fixers have taken control of a TNPL franchise through an illegal deal with the team owner and people linked to bookies are now spreading in different teams.
BCCI’s ACU chief Ajit Singh told the newspaper that there were “a few instances when players were approached.”
“These players have informed us and we are checking who has approached them. We are taking statements asking when they were approached, under what circumstances. Usually, the messages come on WhatsApp, so we are trying to establish IDs. We haven’t questioned any team owners, yet,” the former Rajasthan DGP was quoted as saying.
The ACU is likely to file an FIR with the state police in a few days after taking legal opinion on the issue.
This fixing scandal is the biggest set-back to T20 leagues in the country since the spot fixing scandal hit the IPL in 2013. While a few minor leagues have been under the scanner for fixing in the last few years, TNPL is a BCCI-recognised tournament with some of the top India stars including Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar playing.