Cricket News Desk. Cricket is the most popular sport in India. No other sport comes close to cricket in terms of popularity. There is so much craze among cricket fans in India that fans even worship many players. But there have been many such moments in the history of cricket when the entire cricket world has been embarrassed. The gentlemen's game has often been marred by fixing. Even though ICC has taken many steps and made strict laws to stop match fixing, bookies are continuously creating match fixing situations.
The biggest scam happened in the year 2000
The biggest fixing scandal in cricket history came to light in 2000 between India and South Africa. This has been disclosed by the Indian Police itself. Police said that five players from both the teams were in contact with bookies to fix the match. These five names were very shocking, they also include Team India captain Mohammad Azharuddin and South Africa captain Hansie Cronje. South Africa's Cronje admitted that Azhar had introduced him to bookies. Azhar and Ajay Jadeja were later banned for life. Many South African players including Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boye were involved in this fixing, Mohammad Azharuddin fought an 11-year legal battle to be freed from these charges and also got a clean chit from the Supreme Court.
Spot fixing in England
During Pakistan's tour of England in 2010, a big match fixing scandal came to light. In this scam, Pakistan's Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif and the then team captain Salman Butt were found involved in spot fixing. All three had taken money from a bookie named Mazhar Majin to fix the match. A sting operation revealed that Majid had asked Aamir and Asif to bowl no balls in the scheduled overs. Salman Butt was also in this video. After several hearings, the ICC banned all three players in 2011. Butt was banned for 10 years, Asif for 7 years and Aamir for 5 years.
Spot fixing in IPL 2013
In 2013, IPL also got the black spot of fixing. IPL team Rajasthan Royals players Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandoulia were arrested on charges of spot-fixing in IPL matches. Along with this, Vindu Dara Singh and Meiyappan were accused of contacting bookies for spot fixing, after which Mumbai Police arrested both of them. Rajasthan Royals were suspended pending investigation. Delhi Police has claimed that Sreesanth and Chavan have confessed to their involvement in spot fixing. BCCI banned Sreesanth and Ankit Chavan for life. However, later the court removed the lifetime ban on Sreesanth and reduced it to only 7 years.
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