You must have heard about how common betting and gambling are in the cricket business. Over the years, there have been new regulations and laws to stop these activities and declaring them illegal. Besides these, there is another issue in this sports industry, and i.e. Match-fixing; gamblers pay off the players for playing with a pre-determined result. Here is the list of cricketers who have been caught for match-fixing:
1. S. Sreesanth
Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, and Ajit Chandila of Rajasthan Royals were charged by Delhi Police for their involvement in spot-fixing during the 6th season of the Indian Premier League. The cops also investigated actor Vindu Dara Singh who was the co-owner of the team along with Gurunath Meiyappan. There were also accusations that these players had a connection with underworld lords Chhota Shakeel and Dawood Ibrahim, but due to lack of evidence, S. Sreesanth and the other people involved in the case were released.
2. Hansie Cronje
This incident is still one of the biggest match-fixing scandals in the history of cricket; Hansie was a South African international cricketer and a part of the South African cricket team in the 90s. Cronje had a huge fan following and has always been liked by the public, but this took a turn in 2000 when a shady conversation between him and a member of the Indian betting syndicate, Sanjay Chawla, was recorded by Delhi Police. After declining the charges several times, the player broke down during the cross-examination and was banned from cricket for a lifetime. Hansie Cronje died in a plane crash in 2002 which led to theories that the cricketer was murdered by someone.
3. Mervyn Westfield
Mervyn Westfield is the first English cricketer to be convicted for spot-fixing after confession. In 2012, the authorities arrested Westfield on suspicion of ‘‘match irregularities’’ in the 2009 domestic season; the player accepted that he took a bribe of £6,000 for intentionally bowling widers. Mervyn was sent to prison for four months, and the English Cricket Board banned him for life from playing cricket in England and Wales.
4. Salim Malik
Malik was the first cricketer of the 21st century to receive a ban for match-fixing; he has also captained the Pakistani cricket team and was a renowned cricketer in the 80s and 90s until his involvement in the scandal. The officials accused him of taking bribes and he received the ban while he was captain during a cricket tour in South Africa, but he came clean later and continued playing. Salim’s career came to rest after playing 100 Test Matches; authorities found him finally guilty, and he subsequently received a ban for life.
5. Mohammad Azharuddin
Azharuddin was a shining batsman and accomplished captain of the Indian Cricket Team in the 90s; he was accused of match-fixing in 2000, and after confessing, he informed the investigators that he was the one who introduced Hansie Cronje to bookies. The cricketer was found consequently guilty for fixing 3 ODIs, BCCI, and ICC matches and banned the cricketer for life. After a while, Azhar alleged that he was being dragged into a conspiracy because he was a Muslim, and a Bollywood film about this case was made starring actor Emraan Hashmi. In 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court lifted the ban.
6. Maurice Odumbe
In 2004, ICC investigated due to the several suspicions of match-fixing and found Odumbe guilty of taking bribes which led to him receiving a ban for five years. This Kenyan cricketer won the title ‘Man of the Match’ during Kenya’s victory over the West Indies. In 2009, Maurice started playing again in competitive cricket at the domestic level and shut off the rumors of believing that this ban would lead to the end of his career.
7. Manoj Prabhakar
Even after being a phenomenal all-rounder, Manoj has always been remembered for all the wrong reasons. In May 2000, Manoj alleged that Kapil Dev had offered him INR 25 Lakhs to underperform during an ODI tournament in Sri Lanka. It wasn’t until later that BCCI President revealed that Prabhakar was intimately by somebody else and not Kapil Dev. The Income Tax Department and CBI came together and investigated Manoj’s financial records and found some loopholes in his account and found Prabhakar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dinesh Mongia, Ajay Sharma, and Ajay Jadeja, along with the team’s physiotherapist Dr. Ali Irani guilty of taking bribes for match-fixing.
8. Salman Butt
Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir, along with Mohammad Asif from the Pakistan cricket team, were involved in a spot mixed case during a tour to England. The trio was convicted of taking bribes from a bookmaker named Mazhar Majeed; Majeed was arrested by The Scotland Yard and the ICC banned Butt, Amir, and Asif for 10, 5, and 7 years respectively. All four were given prison sentences ranging from six to thirty-two months in November 2011.
9. Gulam Bodi
Bodi was banned from South Africa cricket, which is equable to a life ban; he was found guilty of match-fixing a tournament in South Africa known as Ram Slam T20 Series in 2015. The CSA faced repression and banned Gulam Bodi, and other cricketers like Thami Tsolekile and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
10. Shane Warne
Another match-fixing scandal of the 1990s was when an Indian bookie in 1994-95 named John, the Bookmaker received information regarding weather and pitch by Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Mark Waugh in exchange for money. The Australian Cricket Board wanted this matter to disappear so when the subject came to light, both the cricketers denied the accusations.
