Five domestic Indian Premier League players were suspended from cricket Tuesday after a sting operation by a local TV channel highlighted alleged fixing and corruption, sporting authorities said. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said the players were handed provisional suspensions until its investigations into the allegations were completed. The five — T.P. Sudhindra, Mohnish Mishra, Abhinav Bali, Amit Yadav and Shalabh Srivastava — are all first-class cricketers signed to various teams in the IPL. “The BCCI has decided to suspend these players from all cricket till preliminary investigation into the whole episode is completed,” IPL commissioner Rajiv Shukla told reporters. The inquiry will be carried out by former police officer Ravi Sawani, who has previously served in the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, Shukla added. Hindi-language India TV showed Sudhindra, of the Deccan Chargers, allegedly agreeing to bowl pre-arranged no-balls in a local amateur match, while Kings XI Punjab player Srivastava was reportedly heard boasting he could do the same in the IPL. The channel claimed it had taped seamer Srivastava telling its reporters he could deliver a no-ball in the IPL for one million rupees (about $18,500). Srivastava, 30, who has played two seasons of first-class cricket for the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, denied the allegation and threatened to take the TV channel to court. “The voice which suggests that I am ready to spot-fix is not mine,” he told the Indian Express newspaper. “I am ready to clarify this to the BCCI, my team owners and the IPL governing council. I will definitely file a case against them.” Another Kings XI Punjab player, Yadav, was taped saying he had reason to believe that last season's IPL match against Delhi Daredevils was fixed, but could not substantiate his claim. Last year, Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed in Britain for their role in a spot-fixing scandal relating to a test match against England at Lord's in August 2010. The spot-fixing scam, which shook the cricketing world, came to light after a British newspaper recorded sports agent Mazhar Majeed boasting of how he could arrange for players to rig games for money. The International Cricket Council subsequently banned the three players for a minimum of five years. A series of scandals has tarnished the image of the cash-rich IPL, which boasts a host of celebrity owners including India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, spirits and airline magnate Vijay Mallya and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
