Gambling and betting, match-fixing has developed as a very profitable endeavor for both the players and shady syndicates, that is, unless they are found. Players and syndicates alike stand to make a lot of money from the scheme until they are detected. You now give a list of the match-fixing scandals that occurred in cricket. Which totally stained the sport known as the “gentleman’s game.”
Cricket is no stranger to controversy. And the fact that it is such a well-known and respected game makes it inevitable that criminal organizations would attempt to make profits off of it.
The Biggest Cheating Scandals in the History of Cricket
Fixing a match refers to the practice in which gamblers pay off players so that they will play with the intention of achieving a certain outcome. This style of playing breaches a variety of laws as well as the regulations of the game. Which might result in fines, prison time, or a ban that ranges from partial to total.
Throughout the years, a number of cricket players have been found guilty of maintaining active connections with bookmakers and sentenced accordingly. We have compiled a list of the top 10 most significant instances of match-fixing in the history of cricket.
10. Maurice Odumbe
This Kenyan cricketer was recognized as the “Man of the Match” following Kenya’s triumph against West Indies in the 1996 Cricket World Cup. He was one of the most important players in the tournament and helped Kenya win.
In 2004, after allegations that a match had been fixed. The International Criminal Court (ICC) conducted an investigation and determined that Odumbe had accepted bribes. Because of this, he has been disqualified for a period of five years.
Odumbe swore to return from the depths of one of the most significant match-fixing scandals in the history of the sport. Despite the fact that many people assumed the suspension would put an end to his career. In the year 2009, Odumbe made his debut as a competitive cricket player on the domestic circuit.
9. Marlon Samuels
Samuels was a member of the West Indies cricket squad that prevailed as champions of the ICC World Twenty20 (2012). But before that, in the year 2008. he was accused of providing out information on team tactics and movements to a bookie before of the match between the West Indies and India in Nagpur in 2007. This match took place in 2007.
Samuels insisted that he was innocent. But recorded recordings of their telephone talks were sufficient evidence to warrant a two-year suspension for Samuels. After serving his suspension for a short time. Marlon Samuels went back out on the field and proceeded to have a very successful professional career.
8. Mervyn Westfield
After Mervyn Westfield’s confession. He became the first English player to be convicted for spot-fixing, which occurred during one of the most significant match-fixing scandals in the history of the sport of cricket.
Westfield was taken into custody by the authorities in 2012 on allegations of engaging in “match irregularities” during the 2009 domestic season. He acknowledged that in exchange for bowling wides on purpose, he had been paid a bribe of £6,000.
In 2012, he was sentenced to serve a jail term of four months. And the English Cricket Board subsequently banned him from playing cricket in England and Wales for the rest of his life.
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7. Shane Warne and Mark Waugh (Australia)
John the Bookmaker was an Indian bookie who, during the years 1994 and 1995. Took money from Australian cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne in return for inside knowledge about the game’s conditions, including the weather and the playing surface.
This was the biggest match-fixing controversy of the 1990s, and as a matter of fact. The Australian Cricket Board was quite keen to try to sweep the issue under the rug when it first came to their attention. When the issue was brought to light in 1998. Both Warne and Waugh defended themselves by stating that they had never disclosed any strategic information.
Interesting fact: Shane Warne was a witness in the case against Pakistani cricket captain Saleem Malik, who was accused of trying to pay him to lose matches. After what happened, people all across the globe continue to have serious doubts about his trustworthiness.
6. The No-Ball Scandal
Players of Pakistan’s national cricket team were exposed in a sting operation conducted by News of the World in 2010. The investigation revealed that the players had accepted payments from a bookmaker called Mazhar Majeed in exchange for playing no-balls.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has imposed a five- to the ten-year suspension on the playing careers of three players: Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Amir.
In addition, in 2011, they were sentenced to between six and thirty-two months in prison on accusations of conspiracy and playing no-ball intentionally during test matches.
5. Salim Malik
In the 1980s and 1990s, Salim Malik was held in high esteem as a wonderful player due to his role as captain of the Pakistani cricket team. However, it remained until it was discovered that he was involved in the most significant match-fixing scandals. He earned the distinction of becoming the first cricket player in the 21st century to be disqualified for match fixing.
Malik was given the suspension when he was captaining the team after they returned from a cricket tour in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Although the authorities suspected him of accepting bribes, he was cleared of the charges and allowed to continue playing.
Malik’s career came to an end after he had participated in more than one hundred test matches. The authorities determined that he was guilty of match-fixing scandals in cricket, and as a result, he was given a lifetime ban from the sport.
4. Mohammad Azharuddin
In the year 2000, Mohammad Azharuddin was suspected of manipulating matches in 2000. He had been an outstanding hitter and an experienced leader of the Indian Cricket Team during the 90s. Hansie Cronje is a cricket player from South Africa who is being investigated for match fixing scandals.
He admitted his wrongdoing to the investigators and said that Azhar was the one who introduced him to the bookies. As a direct result of this, the police concluded that he had tampered with three ODIs. After that, both the ICC and the BCCI gave him a lifelong ban.
Later on, Azhar said that the only reason he was being drawn into the situation was due of his religious affiliation with Islam. On the other hand, the prohibition was overturned by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the year 2012.
3. Indian Cricket Players Involved in the Match-Fixing Scandal in 2000
In the year 1998, an Indian player by the name of Manoj Prabhakar sounded the alarm. He revealed explosive information to the BCCI. Which led to one of the most significant instances of match-fixing in the history of cricket. Jadeja said that one of his teammates had attempted to bribe him with a sum of money equal to Rs. 25 lakh.
He made many attempts to compensate Manoj monetarily for his poor performance in a match against Pakistan in 1994. According to the results of the investigation, Prabhakar was allegedly pointing his finger in the direction of Kapil Dev.
Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma were threatened with a lifetime ban in the year 2000 when police officers conducted raids at the homes of notable cricket players and officials. In addition, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja, and Ajay Sharma were all suspected by the police of having contacts with bookmakers.
2. Hansie Cronje
The revelation in the year 2000 by the Delhi Police that they had taped questionable talks between Sanjay Chawla and Hansie Cronje caused one of the most significant match-fixing scandals in the history of cricket, which shook the foundations of the worldwide cricket community.
Cronje was a popular South African cricketer who had a lot of success throughout his career. However, as it came to light that he had been involved with Sanjay Chawla. They is a well-known member of the Indian betting syndicate, he became a controversial figure.
Cronje first rejected all allegations of match-fixing, but later, when being cross-examined, he became emotional and started crying. In the end, Hansie Cronje was threatened with an exclusion from cricket for the rest of his life. Cronje was thought to have been killed prior to his death in an aircraft accident in 2002, which led to the proliferation of conspiracy theories.
1. Match-Fixing in the Indian Premier League
It seems inevitable that a major league in a nation in which cricket is seen as a religion would be implicated in one of the most significant match-fixing scandals in the history of cricket. Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, and S. Sreesanth were all members of the Rajasthan Royals cricket team when they were accused of spot-fixing by the Delhi Police during the sixth season of the Indian Premier League.
After that, the police investigated another 23 people, including bookmakers, performers, and co-owners (such as Vindu Dara Singh and Gurunath Meiyappan), for betting and engaging in other criminal activities.
The police accused them of having contacts with criminal kingpins such as Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel. A number of persons, including Sreesanth and Chavan, were let free as a result of a lack of cooperation between the various branches of law enforcement as well as the absence of substantial evidence. Keep up with the inquiry right here.
Closing Remarks
Which of these match-fixing scandals in cricket was the most damaging to the sport’s reputation? Share your thoughts with us in the section below!
FAQs: Cricket’s Biggest Scandals Involving Match-Fixing
Mohammad Naveed, a former captain of the United Arab Emirates cricket team. And Shaiman Anwar Butt, a batsman, has been handed an eight-year suspension by the International Cricket Council. A suspension from playing for eight years is an extraordinarily lengthy period of time to hand down to a player.
Most instances of match-fixing have been found in cricket. In some of the most high-profile cases, match-fixing has been identified as being practiced in international cricket.
After listening in on a discussion between Cronje and a bookie who was on the blacklist. They learned in the year 2000 that Cronje had taken money from the bookie in order to toss matches for him.
Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan are the three cricketers who were taken into custody. By the Delhi Police Department on suspicion that they fixed matches during the 2013 Indian Premier League. They competed as a member of the Rajasthan Royals in the 2013 season of the Indian Premier League.
The name “Wilson Raj Perumal” has been given to the person considered to be the most successful match-fixer in recent global history.
Wilson had a humble beginning as a farm child in rural Singapore in the middle of the 1960s. But he eventually ascended to the pinnacle of international match-fixing spanning five continents and became the most sought man in FIFA’s history.
