Twenty-seven players in the Indian Premier League – including one Australian – have reportedly been connected to match-fixing allegations.
Indian cricket authorities suspended Lalit Modi, the head and driving force behind the money-spinning IPL tournament, on Monday in a bid to stem an escalating crisis over corruption and match-fixing allegations.
British media reported that a report by tax officials sent to India's finance department alleged that 27 cricketers and one official took part in 'spot fixing' during Twenty20 games.
A number of high profile Australian cricketers take part in the lucrative Indian Premier League.
Modi suspended
After a week of intense speculation that Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi faced the axe, the news came just hours after the final on Sunday night of a tournament he built into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
"We regard the IPL as a great property but ethics and transparency are more important than the brand," Shashank Manohar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told a news conference in Mumbai.
"The suspension is necessary for a free and fair inquiry. It's not a punishment," he added after an emergency meeting of the board.
The BCCI, which owns the IPL, nevertheless accuses Modi of "alleged acts of individual misdemeanours" and is scrutinising his financial dealings in relation to the tournament, which began in 2008.
Details revealed on Twitter
The seeds of his downfall were sown two weeks ago when he revealed the ownership details of a new franchise set to join the glitzy and globally popular IPL in 2011.
Writing on micro-blogging site Twitter, he embarrassed a high-profile member of the government, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, by leaking how Tharoor's girlfriend had been given a free stake in the new team.
Under pressure from the opposition, which accused Tharoor of misusing his office to secure benefit for himself, the minister was forced to resign, embarrassing the Congress-led government.
Since then, the finance ministry has launched a wide-ranging tax probe into the IPL, the BCCI and its franchise owners -- powerful business and Bollywood figures -- and many blame Modi for bringing the tax man to their door.
The investigation has sparked a media frenzy, with daily leaks -- though nothing has been proved so far -- about Modi's unpaid tax liabilities, general corruption in the game, kickbacks and even possible match-fixing.
Match fixing allegations
Result rigging is a particularly dangerous slur on the subcontinent after investigators unearthed widespread illegal betting and corruption by Indian bookmakers and some leading players in 2000.
The 2010 version of the annual IPL tournament finished with a rama-filled final in front of 50,000 fans on Sunday who saw the Chennai Super Kings beat favourites Mumbai Indians in their home city.
Modi, 46, has been defiant in recent days, but he had cut an increasingly isolated figure amid pressure from the government and ebbing support among his cricket contemporaries.
On Sunday night, he sat smiling from his executive seat as he watched the final and later spoke to the capacity crowd during the prize-giving ceremony.
"On this occasion, I assure millions of passionate fans of the league and the game across the globe that the IPL is clean and transparent," he said.
"We should not allow this brand to be diluted and we will not."
Two national obsessions: Cricket and Bollywood
On Twitter, he has threatened to "reveal the men who have tried to bring disrepute to the game" after the end of the tournament and, with no sign of him on Monday, suspense grew about his likely response.
A brash figure and a fan of the high-life, Modi was virtually unknown outside cricket circles until five years ago when he was made the youngest ever vice-president of the BCCI.
Three years later, the BCCI's revenues had tripled after Modi launched the IPL, featuring the world's top cricketers playing a shortened, made-for-TV format of the game.
Before launching the first tournament in 2008, the IPL organisers studied the English Premier League football tournament and sought to emulate its mix of high-profile overseas stars, homegrown talent and foreign coaches.
The IPL then went a step further by bringing in a host of A-list celebrities from the only thing that rivals cricket as India's national obsession -- the film industry.
Three Bollywood superstars -- Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty -- own IPL teams.
Businessman Chirayu Amin, who runs a pharmaceutical business in the western city of Vadodara, has been named the interim chief of the IPL.
Amin is one of the five vice-presidents of the BCCI and a member of the IPL's governing council.
Michael Clarke hopeful for IPL
Australia Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke says he hopes the Indian Premier League can survive the dramatic suspension of tournament boss Lalit Modi.
Clarke, who has opted against playing in the lucrative domestic tournament in the past three years, says he hopes to find the right time in the future to take part and says it's a great vehicle for young up and coming players to show their worth and stake claims for international selection.
