Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra suspended pending probe by BCCI

NEW DELHI – The Board of Control for Cricket in India has suspended Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra for betting on Indian Premier League games.

“Mr. Raj Kundra has been suspended pending enquiry from participation in cricket activities under the aegis of BCCI,” the board said on Monday after an emergency meeting in which other aspects of an ongoing spot-fixing scandal were also discussed.

The decision came after Delhi Police, which is investigating spot-fixing allegations during the IPL, claimed Kundra conceded that he gambled on IPL games during questioning last week.

According to IPL rules, a team official can be suspended if he brings the tournament into disrepute.

Kundra is the second team official to be suspended after Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan, who is the son-in-law of BCCI President Narainswamy Srinivasan.

Srinivasan, who is also the managing director of the India Cements company that owns the Chennai franchise, was forced to step aside pending the probe into Meiyappan.

Former ICC and BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya is the interim president of the BCCI.

Three Rajasthan Royals players — test player Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila — are under arrest for allegedly conceding more than a minimum number of runs agreed upon, in exchange for money from illegal book-makers.

Another Rajasthan player, Sidharth Trivedi, has also been questioned by police.

The BCCI also announced after Monday’s meeting that Ravi Savani, who had been assigned to conduct a probe into the spot-fixing allegations, had submitted his interim report to the disciplinary committee.

No time-frame has been announced on the final decision of the disciplinary committee.

The BCCI also said it had “decided to take measures to clean up Indian cricket,” including the IPL.