India TV ran a sting operation on several cricketers during Indian Premier League 2012. They revealed their findings on May 12. They implicated five Indian cricketers – TP Sudhindra, Shalabh Srivastava, Amit Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, and Abhinav Bali – of fixing of varying nature and magnitude. The revelations sent ripples through the Indian cricket fraternity. IPL Controversies- Part 14: Luke Pomersbach Arrested for Molestation and Assault.

One of the aspects that made the revelations startling was the teams of the cricketers. Sudhindra played for Deccan Chargers, Srivastava and Yadav for Kings XI Punjab, and Mishra for Pune Warriors. Bali never played in the IPL. In other words, there was no one franchise they could raise fingers at. Several were involved.

However, as India TV summed it up, the bookies often approached cricketers from opposing sides: “A particular bowler has bowled easy deliveries and dropped catches, while his ‘partner in crime’ went on a scoring spree.” IPL Controversies- Part 13: Rahul Sharma, Wayne Parnell Caught for Drug Abuse.

On May 15, Mishra wrote a letter to the Sahara group, owners of the Pune franchise. He confessed to the conversation, though he added that he had not anything in seriousness. He also pointed out that he had never taken cash from Sahara. Sahara voiced their support towards BCCI in whatever penalty they decided to dish out to the cricketers.

Sudhindra, the biggest of them, had been caught during a First-class match. A reporter, disguised as a bookie, had convinced him to deliberately bowl a no-ball. BCCI banned Sudhindra for life, Srivastava for five years, and Mishra, Yadav, and Bali for a year each.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2021 10:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).