Indian cricketer suspended for IPL fixing approach

The Indian cricket board has suspended Mumbai batsman Hiken Shah with immediate effect for offering money to a player to influence a game in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

Shah, who does not play in IPL, made the approach to his unidentified first-class cricket teammate who represents Rajasthan Royals in the lucrative Twenty20 league, the Indian board (BCCI) said in a statement.

The player, identified by local media as Mumbai leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, reported the approach to his team, who forwarded the case to BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

Shah’s long-term fate will now be decided by the board’s disciplinary committee.

“His involvement in any form of cricket affiliated with the BCCI stands suspended till the time the disciplinary committee of the BCCI passes appropriate orders,” the board said.

Shah, 30, has played 37 first-class matches for Mumbai, averaging over 42 with six hundreds.

“BCCI has zero tolerance for corruption in the game of cricket,” board president Jagmohan Dalmiya said.

“We have and we will take swift action against such incidents to set a precedent and control the menace of corruption in the game.”

Rajasthan is not alien to the threat of spot-fixing after former India paceman S. Sreesanth and two other cricketers from the team were arrested in 2013 on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs.

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