It can’t get worse for Rajasthan Royals. First it was the alleged involvement of three players in spot-fixing, and now it’s the turn of its co-owner Raj Kundra, who apparently confessed to betting. Kundra, an NRI businessman and husband of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, was linked to betting a day after Delhi Police grilled him for 11 hours at a special cell office on Wednesday.
“We got to know that he (Kundra) used to place bets, that is why he was called for questioning. He has admitted to betting. He placed bets on his own team,” Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar revealed on Thursday.
The fate of the franchise now hangs in the balance as betting is ‘illegal’ and the owner’s involvement in it violates the BCCI-IPL franchise agreement. As per BCCI anti corruption code 2.2.1, betting is illegal and any person associated with the franchise found to be involved in such activities will face ineligibility for two years, which may go up to five years. Kundra and his wife Shilpa own 11.7 per cent stake in the franchise through Kuki investment ltd.
If clause 12.3 of IPL Team ownership is invoked, BCCI-IPL can terminate the agreement with Royals for bringing disrepute to the BCCI and IPL. The BCCI said it would take up the issue during its Working Committee meeting on June 10 in New Delhi.
Sources said Kundra admitted to betting in the past two-three seasons and even placed bets on some RR matches. However, Kundra claimed he lost a lot of money. “So far, there is no evidence to suggest that he was into spot fixing. We are probing the role of his partner Umesh Goenka in the spot fixing chain as he had access to players’ rooms and frequently visited post-IPL match parties,” a source said.
RR medium pacer Siddharth Trivedi unravelled the ‘Kundra connection’ after he turned approver and named Goenka in his statement before a Magistrate on May 31, sources said. Goenka allegedly sought details of the pitch and team members from Trivedi during many RR matches.
Sleuths, however, are not clear regarding the use of information to alter the outcome of any particular spell in T20 matches.
“We will examine the outcome of matches to corroborate Goenka’s claim to see whether spots in those specific matches were compromised. There is no concrete evidence to book him for fixing,” an official said.