'My captain was waiting for instructions on whether to bat or bowl' - KPL player opens up on match fixing scandal

Karnataka Premier League (KPL) is turning out to be one of the biggest corruption cases in the game of cricket of late. Till date, Central Crime Branch has arrested 6 recipients, including four players, one coach, and one franchise, who are expected to be involved in the scandal. And, now on the conditions of anonymity, quite a few players have come up with some strange revelations related to the KPL match-fixing.

On Thursday, Indian domestic cricketers CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi were arrested by CCB as they were accused of spot-fixing in the KPL 2019 final that was played between Bellary Tuskers and Hubli Tigers.

KPL players reveal strange things related to KPL match-fixing scandal

A player said that when bookies know the guys that will simply not fix the matches than they become extremely careful. He also recalled an incident when a player came to him and told that he was offered an iPhone in order to meet someone. And, also there was one coach with a bag full of iPhones for the players.

“When they know some guys simply won’t do it (fix), they are extremely careful around us. When you are not around, it becomes free for all. A player came up to me to say he was offered an iPhone just to meet someone. There is one coach who was carrying a bag full of iPhones to be distributed among players,” the anonymous player said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

The second player recited that the captain of his team was clean and aware of the things going on in the team. So, he decided to announce the playing XI in the team huddle after the communication devices were taken away. “The problem is when the rot is top-down, players are reluctant to report. Even if you don’t want to do what they ask you to, reporting it when coaches and owners of your team are involved is not easy.

“My captain, who was clean, figured out how wrong things were within the team and began announcing the playing eleven in the team huddle after the communication devices were taken away,” the player said.

Another player explained an incident that had happened during the live match when the skipper of his team was waiting for the instruction before the toss. “It’s happened in a real match situation where the captain was waiting for instructions on whether to bat or bowl before going for the toss,” he added.

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