CM Gautam, Abrar Kazi arrested for spot-fixing in KPL

Former Karnataka Ranji players CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi have been arrested on charges for spot-fixing in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) final earlier this year.

Gautam, the skipper of Bellary Tuskers and his teammate Kazi allegedly accepted Rs 20 lakh to bat slowly in the final against Hubli Tigers, ESPN Cricinfo reported.

Both cricketers were also allegedly involved in fixing another match against the Bengaluru Blasters in the tournament.

"The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has made two important arrests in the KPL spot-fixing scandal. 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," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Sandeep Patil, the Joint Commissioner of Police as saying.

Gautam is a big name in Karnataka Cricket and he was a key player in the side that won back-to-back domestic competition laurels in 2013-14 and 2015-16. He moved to Goa this season after nine years with his home team Karnataka.

He has also played for India A and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.

On the other hand, Kazi, a bowling all-rounder, has played under Gautam for a few matches. He had a stop-start career with Karnataka before moving to Nagaland last year.