Former Indian cricketers demand stern action against guilty in IPL scam

Former Indian cricketers said on Tuesday that the apex court should give exemplary punishment to the guilty in Indian Premier League (IPL) match fixing scam, after a committee submitted its final report on the issue to the court.

The Mudgal Committee headed by Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal, appointed to probe the IPL match fixing scam, earlier on Monday submitted its final report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover.

Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad demanded immediate action against those who tried to taint the game.

"We all knew there was something wrong going on in cricket and Justice Mudgal is a very honest and sincere man. I hope that those who are found guilty should be punished immediately because the fixing issue has not been on since only 2007," said Azad.

"I raised this issue in Parliament in 2000 when Hansie Cronje accepted that he had taken money to give information and also about the team. So, this has been going on for a very long time. Exemplary punishment should be given to those who are found guilty," he added.

He also said that similar things happened in 2000 also and the same trail has been happening ever since Indian Premier League (IPL) was born.

In February, a preliminary report of the Mudgal Committee had indicted Gurunath Meiyappan, who is married to the daughter of former president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) N. Srinivasan, in the illegal betting case.

In March, Srinivasan, regarded as the world's most powerful cricket administrator, was called on by the Supreme Court to leave his post at the BCCI to ensure a fair investigation into the scandal. Srinivasan stood down in June.

Local media claimed Meiyappan was chief executive of the Chennai Super Kings but the company that owns this IPL franchise, India Cements, said he was merely a member of team management.

The hearing on the matter is slated for November 10.

"We need to have patience. Wait for the 10th and everything will come in front of us. I am sure if there was nothing, in the preliminary report of Justice retired Mudgal, all these investigations wouldn't have happened," said another former Indian cricketer, Surinder Khanna.

So there must have been something which Supreme Court asked this SIT (Special Investigation Team) to investigate into and I am sure they are experienced people and they must have done a good job and put in lot of hard work and we need to wait till the 10th I think," he added.

The scandal surfaced when former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other local cricketers all playing for the Rajasthan franchise, were arrested on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs.

Sreesanth, who had denied any wrongdoing, was subsequently banned for life by the BCCI.

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing.