Since its inception in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has taken the world by storm with its brand and star-studded lineup. The league, though, has also seen its fair share of controversies over the years. One such controversy is surrounding match-fixing and betting.
These problems have tainted the tournament and created controversies between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and other international cricket organizations.
In this article, we will examine the history of match-fixing and also learn about the number one fixing team in IPL.
Match-fixing is the act of deliberately manipulating the result of a match for money or personal advantage. It usually includes players, team authorities, or bookmakers colluding to compromise results.
Spot-fixing, however, is a more limited kind of corruption where players conspire to fix some part of the game, e.g., bowling a no-ball or making a specific number of runs in an over. Spot-fixing is not necessarily involved in changing the end result but enables bookmakers to make money from pre-arranged incidents.
Over the years, Rajasthan Royals, one of the unsuccessful teams of ipl and Chennai Super Kings, the 5 times winner of ipl have been embroiled in match-fixing scandals. So, these are the number one match-fixing teams in IPL.
In the below section, we will talk about these teams and what happened during the scandal. So, you will be able to find the no 1 fixing team in IPL.
There have been some high-profile match-fixing scandals in and around the IPL. Many IPL teams were involved in these scandals. Whether they are the number 1 fixing team in IPL, is up to you to decide.
Let’s look at some of the most famous match-fixing controversies around the IPL.
The 2013 spot-fixing scandal was the most significant and shocking event in the history of IPL. This scandal exposed the dark side of having to play in the richest cricket league in the world. It also raised some serious concerns about how the league is being played.
In this scandal, there were many parties involved. Here is the list of key players.
The other significant people in the scandal.
In May 2013, Delhi Police arrested Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, and Ajit Chandila for their involvement in the spot-fixing. Police have been investigating the scandal for weeks before the arrest of these individuals.
Once the charges were set, the BCCI suspended the players and launched an internal investigation of the same. The Supreme Court of India also appointed RM Lodha Committee to investigate the matter further.
They banned the three players in question from cricket. They also suspended the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals(the low scorer team) for two years.
2012 was a dark year in the IPL’s history as the number one fixing team in IPL got exposed by TV. A sting operation was conducted by India TV to expose the uncapped Indian players. These players were involved in spot-fixing.
The list of the players is as follows.
In the sting operation, they recorded Mohnish Mishra claiming that franchises paid the players in black money. After this operation, the IPL president Rajiv Shukla banned the players in question.
As we’ve mentioned above, the 2013 spot-fixing scandal was the biggest controversy associated with the IPL. The whole season was overshadowed by it. The cricket fans were shocked and an investigation was launched by the Lodha Committee set up by the Supreme Court of India.
The Committee found that there was illegal betting going on involving people from two top franchises, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
Gurunath Meiyappan from CSK and Raj Kundra from RR were the key names involved in the scandal. Because of this revelation, both CSK, one of the most dangerous teams, and RR were banned from playing in the IPL for two years. They were banned for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
To complete the 10-team IPL, BCCI replaced these teams with Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions for two years. RPS was owned by Sanjiv Goenka.
Once the ban period was over, RR and CSK came back to the fold, and the new teams were dismissed.
So, we can say that either RR or CSK is the no.1 fixing team in IPL.
After the ban of players and suspension of teams, players and team owners have made multiple statements. Here are some of the remarks by big names in cricket.
Usually, MS Dhoni stays away from controversies and doesn’t make unnecessary comments. However, he opened up about the spot-fixing scandal. In 2019, he said that the time of CSK’s suspension was the time when he was the most depressed.
According to MS, this type of fixing can only happen if the majority of players are involved in it. He also said that it is not easy for players to perform at the highest levels when all these things are on their minds.
After the team was embroiled in this scandal, they suspended all the players and made a statement.
“We need to respond firmly to keep the league fair. We’ve taken strong action to show our commitment to an honest and ethical IPL. As usual, we’re focused on protecting the sport’s reputation and making sure those who are responsible are held accountable.”
These types of match-fixing scandals have threatened the integrity of the tournament. However, BCCI has been making efforts to enforce strict regulations and ban the players or teams involved in such disgraceful scandals.
Since then, we’ve not seen or heard anything about the fixing team in the IPL. It looks like BCCI’s efforts are being paid off to stay away from such controversial events.
