On This Day: When IPL Got Ugly – Delhi Police Arrests Three Indians on Charges of Spot-fixing in 2013

IPL had been rocked by many controversies in the past — but what happened during the season six in 2013, did irreparable damage to the image of the gentleman’s game.

Three of Rajasthan Royals bowlers – S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police on the charges of spot fixing. If all this was not enough to create a storm, the name of Gurunath Meiyappan, Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings and son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, surfaced on account of cheating and fraud.

There was pressure mounting on Srinivasan to quit, but the latter refused. Meanwhile BCCI secretary, treasurer and IPL chairman had already resigned from their posts. Also an inquiry committee was setup by the board to look into the mess.

On the other hand, Delhi Police revealed that RR owner Raj Kundra had confessed to betting on IPL matches.

The three accused cricketers were suspended with immediate effect while the IPL season continued.

After the incident, Sreesanth’s father blamed India captain MS Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh behind his son’s arrest.

“They are trying to ruin my son. From the beginning Dhoni & him have been close and knew many intimate details.

“Dhoni is trying to take revenge against him for this. My son has played well for India. They are trying to end his career,” his father said, without explicitly saying what it had to do with this case.

“Dhoni had threatened him that he would never be taken back in the Test side,” he added.