NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Former India test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other cricketers were charged today in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal, New Delhi police said.
Rajasthan Royals player Sreesanth and his teammates Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were among 39 charged on Tuesday in the scandal, which has shaken the Indian cricketing world.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid, who led Rajasthan in the last edition of the Twenty20 league, was named a witness in the case.
Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila are accused of taking money to concede a pre-determined number of runs in three IPL matches, the police said. They were arrested in May.
The trio, who have denied any wrongdoing, are out on bail.
Paceman Sreesanth has played 27 tests and 53 one-day internationals but injuries and disciplinary issues have kept him out of the side since late 2011.
Spot-fixing involves the manipulation of individual incidents within a match which may not affect the outcome of the contest, most famously exposed in a London trial and jailing of three Pakistan cricketers in 2011.
Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing, but illegal gambling syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport.
Media estimates put the amount gambled on India’s top Twenty20 competition at $427 million in 2009.
