Cricketer Nishant Singh Shekhawat Arrested for Alleged Match-Fixing in KPL

Cricketer Nishant Singh Shekhawat, who features in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL), has been arrested by the central crime police in Bangalore in connection with alleged match-fixing in the 2018 edition. According to several media reports, the 29-year-old cricketer was under the scanner since the arrests of the bowling coach of the Bengaluru Blasters team Vinu Prasad and a batsman M Vishwanathan on account of corruption and conspiracy. “Cricket player Nishanth Singh Shekhawat has been arrested. He was in touch with bookies and had contacted Bangalore Blasters team bowling coach Vinu Prasad to fix players,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said in a statement. Shekhawat is accused of fixing a KPL match in the year 2018 between Bangalore and Belgavi team, in which he allegedly played slow and received Rs 5 lakhs for the same. The police had earlier arrested Belgavi Panthers team's owner Ali, Bengaluru Blasters bowling coach Vinu and batsman Vishwanathan. Ali had allegedly placed bets with a bookie based in Dubai and was in touch with players of other teams during the league. In another case, Ballari Tuskers pacer Bhavesh Gulecha told the police that he was approached on behalf of bookies by Bhavesh Bafna, the celebrity drummer, to underperform during a KPL match. According to Gulecha’s statement, he was asked to give away more than 10 runs an over in a match in the 2019 KPL.