India bans Sreesanth for life for spot-fixing
AFP Updated September 13, 2013, 10:40 pm
Thirty-year-old Sreesanth has represented India in 27 Tests and 53 ODIs © AFP
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth has been banned from cricket for life after being found guilty of spot-fixing during the Indian Premier League, authorities said Friday.
Ankeet Chavan, a teammate of Sreesanth's in the Rajasthan Royals, was also handed a life ban following a probe by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) anti-corruption chief Ravi Sawani.
"Sreesanth and Chavan have been banned for life from playing any representative cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates," the board said in a statement.
The BCCI's disciplinary committee, taking action on Sawani's report, also handed a five-year suspension to Amit Singh, who played in the IPL till last year for his involvement in spot-fixing.
Rajasthan Royals' Siddharth Trivedi was suspended for one year after being found guilty of the lesser charge of not informing officials about approaches made by bookmakers.
The case against Harmeet Singh, a 21-year-old spinner, who had also been suspected of hiding a bookmaker's approach, was "closed in the absence of evidence against him", the BCCI statement said.
The BCCI did not announce any action against another Rajasthan Royals player, Ajit Chandila, who was also accused of spot-fixing by the anti-corruption officer.
The BCCI did not release Sawani's report but the Indian Express newspaper said that Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were found guilty on multiple accounts, including conceding a "pre-determined number of runs per over in exchange for bribes".
