Former Karnataka Ranji players CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi have been arrested on charges of spot-fixing in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL). Reports of fixing in the regional T20 came to light earlier this year. Gautam was the captain Bellary Tuskers, and he and his team-mate Kazi allegedly accepted Rs 20 lakh for "slow batting" in the tournament final against Hubli Tigers. The Tuskers lost the final by eight runs.
Also, there are reports that Gautam and Kazi are also alleged to have been involved in fixing another match when they took on the Bengaluru Blasters.
'More arrests will be made'
"The CCB has made two important arrests in the KPL spot-fixing scandal," Sandeep Patil, the Joint Commissioner of Police, told ESPNcricinfo. "Bellary team captain CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi were arrested. They did spot-fixing in KPL 2019 finals between Hubli and Bellary. They were paid Rs 20 lakhs for slow batting. Also, they fixed another match against the Bangalore team. Further investigations are on and more arrests will be made."
This is certainly a massive development as Gautam is one of the most famous players in Karnataka and was part of the side that won back-to-back domestic trebles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He shifted bases to Goa this season after spending 9 years with Karnataka. Also, Kazi moved across to Nagaland last year and was a success as he scored three scores of more than150+ scores as a middle-order batsman. This season he shifted to Mizoram.
Gautam has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and was Vinay Kumar's deputy for a long time. He has also captained Karnataka where he led the side which had players like Robin Uthappa, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Manish Pandey. He has also played for India A and has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
The arrest comes soon after Bengaluru team player Nishant Singh Shekhawat was detained earlier this week. Three others including the owner of the Belagavi team, have been arrested in the past couple of months since the scandal came to light.
