Allegations of Spot-Fixing and Leaks in Indian Cricket
The spectre of corruption has swung back over Indian cricket, this time through a sting operation that drags both the IPL and Delhi’s domestic circuit into the spotlight.
Tehelka’s Special Investigation Team, running an undercover operation from December 2025 to August 2026, has alleged that former Ranji player Rachit Bhatia boasted of leaking inside information and dabbling in spot-fixing and selection bribery. The claims are explosive. They are also, at this stage, unverified.
IPL 2025, CSK and Claims of Leaked XIs
At the heart of the report lies the Indian Premier League’s most decorated franchise, Chennai Super Kings.
According to Tehelka, Bhatia told an undercover reporter—posing as a bookmaker—that he had passed on CSK’s playing XI to London-based bookies during the 2025 IPL season. The communication, he allegedly said, ran through Snapchat.
The numbers attached to the claim are staggering. The report states Bhatia claimed he received Rs 60 lakh per match for this information over five games, a total of Rs 3 crore, for what he described as “line-up leaks” before the official toss announcement.
The alleged source? A contact within the CSK squad. Tehelka does not name that player. No evidence has yet been presented publicly to corroborate the existence or identity of such a contact.
As the story spread, other outlets began mentioning CSK and Central Delhi Kings batter Vansh Bedi, but only in the narrow context of him having reported a bookie’s approach to the anti-corruption unit, as per a Times of India report. Bedi has since issued a strong statement, calling any attempt to link him to the alleged fixing network “highly defamatory” and dismissing the associations outright.
The report further claims Bhatia suggested he could repeat the alleged XI-access arrangement for the 2026 IPL season—again involving CSK—if a player he knew was picked at the auction. He is also said to have spoken of replicating a similar model in the Delhi Premier League.
For now, these remain words captured in one media sting, not findings of a court, the BCCI, the ICC, or law enforcement.
DPL Under the Microscope
If the IPL allegations grab the headlines, the Delhi Premier League claims paint a darker, more systemic picture.
Tehelka describes what it calls “line-up leaks” in the DPL as well: playing XIs allegedly supplied to bookmakers before they became public. In these conversations, the report says, Bhatia offered advance XI information for Central Delhi Kings matches in the 2026 DPL season.
The starting price, according to the sting, was Rs 40 lakh per match. It was then negotiated down.
The operation tracked three specific Central Delhi Kings fixtures. For two of them, the report says the XIs Bhatia provided did not match the official team sheets, which he allegedly attributed to late changes. The third match, against North Delhi Strikers on August 3, 2026, is where the pressure, Tehelka claims, finally told: the XI he supplied in advance reportedly matched the one read out at the toss.
Payment for that, the report alleges, settled at Rs 3 lakh.
The sting goes further. Bhatia is quoted as discussing potential spot-fixing in future Central Delhi Kings games, including an attempt to engineer a run-out. He is also said to have claimed he had already engaged in spot-fixing in the past.
According to the report, Bhatia told the undercover reporter he bowled two deliberate wides during the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in exchange for money from bookmakers. He is stated to have played his domestic cricket for Nagaland.
On top of that, Tehelka alleges Bhatia claimed he paid a bribe to secure his Ranji Trophy selection for Nagaland in 2018-19. The report also quotes him suggesting that, in his role as a school-level selector and coach in Delhi, selections across various age groups could be bought.
None of these claims has been independently verified.
DDCA Calls for Caution as BCCI Stays Silent
Once the story broke, the Delhi and District Cricket Association—organiser of the DPL—moved quickly to distance itself from any rush to judgement.
In a formal statement, the DDCA underlined that the allegations in circulation remain unproven.
“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 statement read.
The association stressed that it would be “inappropriate to draw conclusions about any individual, player or franchise based solely on such allegations.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which has lived through the bruising IPL fixing scandals of the past decade, has yet to make any public comment on the Tehelka investigation.
So the game waits. On one side, a detailed sting operation alleging leaks, bribes and deliberate wides. On the other, institutions that have not yet spoken in full.
The next move—by the BCCI, by anti-corruption units, or by law enforcement—will decide whether this remains a media storm or becomes the starting point of another reckoning for Indian cricket.
