Reports | Madurai Panthers write to BCCI over dubious umpiring

The virus of fixing scandal seems to be spreading through the south Indian T20 leagues, as after the Karnataka Premier League was diagnosed as tainted, it now seems likely for the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) to be infected with the same. TNPL franchise Madurai Panthers have lodged a written complaint with Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), BCCI and its Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) over dubious umpiring in a fixture against the Tuti Patriots.

Panthers’ owners P Damodaran stressed that there were numerous occasions of such decisions during the match which caught their attention. He also expressed his concern over the ever-increasing number of match-fixing scandals.

"Some of the decisions that we saw in our game were dubious — it happened not once but many times. The way umpiring was done made us more suspicious. We felt something was wrong, but nothing came of it," owner of Madurai Panthers P Damodaran told The Indian Express.

“As an owner, we are worried about what all is happening and what we are reading in media reports. The culprits should be banned for life and should be sent to jail. This needs to end somewhere. A full-fledged investigation is the need of the hour, and if needed, the Indian board should take help of the government in this.”​

In a confidential report by the ACU, it was stated how an unnaturally high amount was bet on a match in an Indian state league on international betting website Betfair, prompting the website to stop taking any bets on the Tuti Patriots. The unnatural activity was only with regards to the Patriots, and there was nothing suspicious found on the end of the Panthers.

Such incidents only strengthen the ACU’s recommendation to the BCCI to pull the string on the local T20 leagues which, despite being a good platform for the upcoming talents, has turned out to be a platform for bookies to capitalize on.