Why Indian cricket is under corruption cloud: Lack of law, secret shops, tournament mushroom

Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor’s recent confession on the match-fixing allegations against him has once again opened a can of worms, and unleashed questions over the anti-corruption crusade launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Taylor is the second former captain from the African country to be in the anti-corruption net after Heath Streak, who was banned in 2021 for eight years following a similar confession. But how many top cricketers in India have reported attempts by bookies to the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Security Unit since Hansie Cronje’s case shocked the cricket community in 2000? The Cronje scandal had also emerged by luck when Delhi Police chanced upon telephone conversations between Sanjay Chawla, a bookmaker and businessman, and the cricketer while probing a low-profile extortion case.

Two decades later, a similar story is playing out with Brendan Taylor’s statements and a probable multi-year ban after a delay on his part to report attempts by bookies, who allegedly blackmailed him into fixing through videos of him taking cocaine. But it’s barely surprising; the Indian cricket market seems perfect for match-fixing, after all. Let’s look at the ecosystem first, to understand how a match is fixed or a player told to perform as per script.

Shady past, shaky present

With betting being illegal, there is no paper trail, unlike in the United Kingdom or Australia, which seek personal information to open an account. This doesn’t help investigating agencies in cases of match- or spot-fixing. The potential for corruption is huge with bookies operating in secret, over telephones or through social media, and money changing hands in cash.

The BCCI has spent huge money over the last two decades on organising seminars to educate cricketers at all levels against match-fixing but promised no protection to whistleblowers. While there is supposed to be “zero tolerance” towards those involved in any kind of fixing in cricket in India, the BCCI’s role has ostensibly been limited to banning individuals in cases of wrongdoing.

Consider the infamous IPL fixing saga of 2013 allegedly involving speedster S Sreesanth or fringe players such as Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan, and the absence of a thorough probe to completely fix the menace.

Sreesanth cried for justice, raising questions about a “sealed envelope” submitted by the Justice Mudgal committee to the Supreme Court containing 13 names “not handed to the Lodha Committee nor the police” for further investigation. It was apparently pushed under the carpet by the Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators. Apart from a clean-chit to then IPL CEO Sundar Raman, the matter was not discussed in court even when it was a curious subject among cricket fans.

Sreesanth, Chandila, and Chavan were arrested by the Delhi Police, and banned for life by the BCCI. However, they were discharged in 2015 by court and the ban on Sreesanth was revoked.

No effort was made to fix the heart of the problem.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a former BCCI official, who testified before a Justice Mudgal committee investigator, told Newslaundry, “I was asked about my opinion on Sreesanth’s involvement by the investigation team. And I told them in simple and plain words…‘can a player on his own bowl a particular over?’ How can there be any fixing in cricket without the involvement of the team’s captain?”

While investigators were convinced that Sreesanth was only a small fish in the scandal, the official said, “Unfortunately, nothing happened, and here we are again when a Zimbabwean captain (Taylor) is talking about an Indian businessman who blackmailed him to do spot-fixing for him.”

High stakes

It is estimated that there are more than 1,50,000 bookmakers in India. And they are all subscribed to at least one of the three main syndicates or the head bookmakers who set the odds and then provide smaller bookies down the chain a live feed.

Because there are no betting shops in India, bookies operate in secret, and with the industry being vast, the potential for corruption is huge.

Betting syndicates are doing now what the D-Company did between the 80s﹘when the sport travelled to the Gulf﹘and the Hansie Cronje scandal in 2000. The underworld got access to dressing rooms, and got cosy with BCCI officials and selectors.

However, the BCCI seems to have done too little to combat the scourge.

Sample the questions raised over the Indian Cricket Board in allowing betting company CVC Capitals Partners to acquire a full-fledged IPL team through a sum of Rs 5,625 crore. While the BCCI has cleared the firm after an “in-house investigation”, no one can deny that the company is heavily invested in sports betting and gambling worldwide, which is unreservedly against the bid objectives laid down by board.

In 2014, CVC picked up an 80 percent stake in the betting and gaming company Sky Bet, founded and owned by the British media and telecommunications conglomerate Sky Group Limited. In 1999, the firm acquired William Hill, one of the largest British bookmakers. In 2003, it acquired IG Group, the UK’s leading provider of speculative investments such as spread bets.

A company investing heavily in a cricket league would not do it for the love of the game but for profits. And the truth is that companies that have so far invested in other IPL teams have hardly been making profits, even after 14 seasons.

Judging by records, which show teams earning around Rs 200 crore per year from central revenue and an additional nearly Rs 100 crore from gate collections, sponsorship and merchandising, two new team owners could soon be in the red, with the CVC Capital Partners losing approximately Rs 260 crore a year.

So, how is a team expected to play in good spirits?

Need for law

Ajit Singh Shekhawat, who was the Rajasthan DGP before taking charge as the BCCI’s ACSU chief in 2018, had suggested a match-fixing law, besides the legalisation of betting, to tackle the “unstoppable” menace of corruption in cricket. He pointed to laws in the UK and Australia.

The Law Commission of India had last year also expressed the need to make match-fixing a criminal offence, similar to UK and Australia.

Leagues out of control

In recent years, on the recommendation of its ACSU, the BCCI has decided to put a cap on state-run T20 leagues after multiple cases of dubious ownership emerged. But there has hardly been a foolproof plan on part of the board to check the mushrooming number of such tournaments, from Karnataka to Bhilwara.

Consider what happened in March last year, when the Bihar Cricket Association decided to conduct one such league in Patna without the BCCI’s permission. No action was taken against the state association despite an official warning letter. The board only acted while the Bihar Cricket League was underway after multiple cases of dubious ownership and unusual betting patterns emerged. Defiant BCA officials had not paid heed to the BCCI and went ahead with the tournament. The BCCI should have banned the BCA but no such action has been taken.

It is not unpredictable then for the sport to continue to be haunted by corrupt practices, two decades after Hansie Cronje’s fall from grace. And to lift this cloud, the board and other stakeholders will have to play on the front foot.