Life ban for Sreesanth, Chavan; Harmeet let off in IPL scandal

Cracking the whip on corrupt players, the BCCI today slapped life bans on Indian Test pacer S Sreesanth and spinner Ankeet Chavan for being involved in the IPL spot-fixing scam while handing out lesser punishments to some others in the scandal which rocked the Twenty20 league this year.
Amit Singh, a former Rajasthan Royals player, was handed a five-year ban while another RR cricketer Siddharth Trivedi got away with a lighter one-year suspension after the BCCI disciplinary committee met here to discuss anti-corruption chief Ravi Sawani's report on the scam.
"After considering the evidence on record and hearing each of the Players in person, the Disciplinary Committee has passed the following order...Mr Amit Singh is banned for a period of five years from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.

"Mr. Siddarth Trivedi is banned for a period of one year from playing any representative Cricket or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.
"Mr. Ankeet Chavan is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates.
"Mr. S. Sreesanth is banned for life from playing any representative Cricket, or in any way being associated with the activities of the BCCI or its affiliates," the statement added.

Young spinner Harmeet Singh was, however, let off for lack of strong evidence against him.

"The case against Mr. Harmeet Singh has been closed in the absence of evidence against him."
The release had no mention of Ajit Chandila, who allegedly lured the cricketers into the spot-fixing net, but a BCCI official said a decision on him will be taken at a later stage.