Allegations of Corruption in IPL and Delhi Cricket
The Indian Premier League has been dragged back into the shadows, this time by an undercover sting that claims a web of corruption stretches from Delhi’s domestic scene to the heart of IPL 2025.
At the centre of it all: former Ranji player Rachit Bhatia.
Sting Operation Raises Alarming Claims
Tehelka’s Special Investigation Team spent months, from December 2025 to August 2026, posing as bookmakers. In a series of covertly recorded conversations, their report says, Bhatia laid out a menu of alleged corrupt practices: leaking playing XIs, arranging spot-fixing, and even buying his way into state teams.
The most explosive claim concerns Chennai Super Kings.
According to the investigation, Bhatia told the undercover reporter he had supplied CSK’s playing XI to London-based bookies during the 2025 IPL season. The report alleges he used Snapchat to pass on the information and that he claimed to have earned Rs 60 lakh per match across five games — a total of Rs 3 crore — for these “line-up leaks”.
Tehelka’s report says Bhatia attributed the information to a contact inside the CSK squad. Crucially, the outlet does not name that player.
The allegations stop there in terms of direct CSK involvement. No proof of on-field fixing in those matches is presented in the report, only claims of advance team-sheet access.
Names Dragged In, Denials Follow
As the story spread, some secondary coverage began to mention CSK and Central Delhi Kings batter Vansh Bedi. That link, though, came in a very different context.
According to a Times of India report cited in the coverage, Bedi had earlier reported an approach from a bookie to the sport’s anti-corruption unit. That did not stop his name being pulled into the swirl around the Tehelka sting.
Bedi has since issued a statement, calling any attempt to connect him to the alleged fixing “highly defamatory” and dismissing the suggestions outright.
For now, his role in the broader narrative stands only as someone who, according to that earlier report, informed authorities about a corrupt approach — not as a participant in wrongdoing.
DPL Under the Microscope
The sting doesn’t stop at IPL. It dives deep into the Delhi Premier League, organised by the Delhi and District Cricket Association, and paints a bleak picture of domestic cricket’s vulnerability.
Tehelka’s investigation describes what it calls “line-up leaks” — the practice of feeding a team’s playing XI to bookmakers before it is officially revealed at the toss.
According to the report, Bhatia offered to supply such information for Central Delhi Kings matches in the 2026 DPL season. He initially quoted Rs 40 lakh per game, the story says, before the figure was bargained down.
The investigation claims Bhatia provided predicted XIs ahead of two Central Delhi Kings fixtures that did not fully match the teams eventually announced, which he allegedly blamed on late changes. The pressure point came before a third match, against North Delhi Strikers on August 3, 2026, when the line-up he provided reportedly matched the official playing XI.
Payment for that, the report alleges, settled at Rs 3 lakh.
Tehelka’s piece goes further, stating that Bhatia discussed the possibility of arranging spot-fixing in future Central Delhi Kings matches. Among the scenarios allegedly floated was a pre-planned run-out. The report also says Bhatia separately claimed to have carried out spot-fixing himself in the past.
Claims of Past Spot-Fixing and Bribery
The investigation recounts Bhatia allegedly boasting that he bowled two deliberate wides during the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in exchange for money from bookmakers. It also notes that he played his domestic cricket for Nagaland.
The allegations don’t end with on-field manipulation. According to Tehelka, Bhatia claimed he had paid a bribe to secure his own Ranji Trophy selection for Nagaland in the 2018-19 season.
The report also portrays him, in his stated role as a school-level selector and coach in Delhi, as someone who suggested that places in school teams across various age groups could be bought. No figures are detailed in the piece, but the implication is stark: that the rot, if proven, runs from the grassroots to the professional game.
None of these claims has been independently verified by any governing body or court.
DDCA Urges Caution, BCCI Silent So Far
With the DPL and Delhi cricket directly implicated, the DDCA was forced to respond. Its statement did not attempt to dissect the details of the sting. Instead, it drew a firm line on due process.
“DDCA would like to clarify that the allegations referred to in these reports are unverified and have not been established by any competent authority,” the association said.
“The association believes it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions about any individual, player or franchise based solely on such allegations,” it added.
The BCCI, which has lived through its share of fixing scandals and overhauled its anti-corruption mechanisms in the past, has yet to issue any public comment on the Tehelka investigation. The ICC and law-enforcement agencies also have not confirmed any formal action at this stage.
That context matters. For now, these remain serious but unproven allegations, resting on one media outlet’s undercover operation.
Yet the questions they raise cut deep. If even a fraction of what is claimed about line-up leaks, spot-fixing, and paid selections stands up to scrutiny, Indian cricket faces another bruising battle for its credibility — from the school nets in Delhi to the bright lights of the IPL.
