In case you’re joining us just now here are some links to some of our pieces on the scandal:

Rotate watch, towel in pant or set field: Delhi police on how Sreesanth and Co fixed matches

All you need to know about Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila

Sreesanth arrest: WhatsApp, BBM the latest tech tools in Match fixing?

From Ganguly to Sreesanth’s family: Who said what on IPL spot-fixing scandal

Sreesanth’s cousin Jiju Janardhan and his alleged role in spot-fixing scandal

And here are the latest updates:

How did the Delhi Police bust the IPL spot-fixing case? Find out here.

6. 23 pm: Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila reach Saket Court

In keeping with legal procedure the three arrested cricketers have been produced before a Delhi court where the police will seek their custody. The faces of the cricketers and others are muffled, as they are being taken to the magistrate’s residence inside Saket district court complex, reports PTI.

Media have been restrained from witnessing remand proceedings at judge’s residence.

6:00 pm: Time for strong medicine from BCCI?

In an editorial, the Hindu has criticised the working of the BCCI and the IPL saying that the organisers of the tournament had been warned in the past of potential corruption but have either turned a blind eye to it or done ineffectually little.

Pointing to the fact that this incident hardly came as a surprise, the editorial said:

For, the moral vacuousness of IPL’s agenda — packaging dumbed-down entertainment as sport with the sole aim of making money — had left plenty of room for shady dealings of this kind. Hannah Arendt’s famous phrase, the banality of evil, may not be out of place in the context of the popular League and the mephitic cloud of corruption under which it has prospered. Three players of the Rajasthan Royals team and a number of bookmakers have been arrested but when a whole enterprise is focussed myopically on crass commerce, it is only a matter of time before a few of those involved in it lose their moral compass.

Read the complete editorial here

5: 45 pm: BCCI official says Sreesanth very likely to get life ban

Unless the former India fast bowler ends up being completely exonerated, it looks like his cricketing career is very much reaching its end.

“…the mood among BCCI office-bearers is pretty clear. If we say zero tolerance, we should be able to walk the talk. We don’t see Sreesanth ending with anything less than
life-ban. The decision will take some time but that’s what is likely to happen,” an unnamed BCCI official was quoted as telling PTI.

Read the complete article here

5:15 pm: Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan to be produced in Saket court

In keeping with legal procedure the three arrested cricketers are to be produced before a Delhi court today where the police will seek their custody.

All three along with the arrested bookies are expected to be produced before a court in the Saket court complex, Times Now reported.

Given the Delhi police is likely to seek their custody for further interrogation, its unlikely any of the arrested persons, including the players will be able to seek bail.

But will they file for bail? Watch this space.

5:00 pm: Guess what? ICC had warned of dangers of fixing in IPL

CNN-IBN has now dug out a report by the anti-corruption unit of the International Cricket commission which had warned of corruption in the Indian Premier League.

Its no surprise that the warning came in advance, but as the BCCI chief pointed out they just didn’t have adequate resources to monitor every player and team owner.

So basically its all working on the honour system for a long time to come.

4:40 pm: Lalit Modi goes off on Twitter rant in London over spot fixing issue

Guess who must be smiling ear to ear in London? Yes, the former IPL commissioner-in-exile Lalit Modi who is continuing to give his views on the ongoing scandal through Twitter.

3:40 pm: No evidence that Sreesanth was leader of players indulging in fixing

The Delhi police chief said that they there was no evidence that Sreesanth was leading the three players.

“We have no evidence that Sreesanth was the senior most and therefore he must be the leader,” Kumar said.

The mastermind of the betting racket is reportedly sitting abroad, the police chief said.

3:35 pm: Surveyed phones since April, no other players found involved, says Delhi police

The Delhi police chief said that they had been surveying phones since April and had only found evidence of these three players being involved in taking money from bookies.

“Further arrests will be of bookies and no more players will be arrested,” Kumar said.

Only these three players from Rajasthan Royals had been found spot fixing and no one else, he said.

There was no evidence found between bookies and the batsmen, the Delhi police chief said.

3:30 pm: Jiju was conduit between Sreesanth and bookies, say cops

Jiju Janardhan was the conduit between the bookies and Sreesanth and the fast bowler had reportedly been paid Rs 40 lakh for fixing the over.

Our investigations do not show the involvement of any other players, the Delhi police chief said. He added that there was no evidence of any other Rajasthan Royals players being involved in the scandal.

3:25 pm: No evidence of Dhoni, team owners involvement, says Delhi police chief

There is no evidence of team owners talking to the bookies, the Delhi police chief said.

The police chief denied that the cricket board had any clue that this sort of match fixing was taking place.

“We informed the IPL management about what was happening and not the other way around,” Kumar said.

Maybe some police forces already know about the bookies but the Delhi police did not know about it, he said.

Is Dhoni involved in the scandal?

“No, Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not put the towel in his pocket,” Kumar said, with a smile.  Perhaps that will be the new test of honesty soon?

3:22 pm: Delhi police says Shaun Tait is clean

The Delhi police chief has told an Australian journalist that they have no evidence of Australian cricketer Shaun Tait being involved in this scandal.

3:20 pm: Delhi police had info that underworld was involved in spot fixing

The Delhi police seems to have done their homework on this one and seem to have very detailed transcripts of conversations between the players and the bookies.

The Delhi police chief said that soon after the match they gave the clearance for the arrests to be made.

“Sreesanth was arrested from Carter Road in Mumbai, Chandila in front of Hotel Intercontinental and Chavan from Hotel Trident,” Kumar said.

“Some of you must be wondering how it all started. It was information that we had that the Mumbai underworld was indulging in match fixing and spot fixing, and were contacting a number of bookies,” Kumar said.

It was after Chavan’s over yesterday that the police had strongest evidence of the nexus after which they made the arrests, he said.

3:15 pm: Ankit Chavan’s second over in Mumbai Indians match yesterday was fixed, say cops

The third match fixed which was last night between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in which Ankeet Chavan had been directed to be given 13 runs in his second over.

After giving 2 runs in his first over, he gave the required number of runs in the second over, Kumar said.

Ankeet was given Rs 60 lakh for giving the runs away, the Delhi police chief said.

3:05 pm: Match on 9 May was also fixed, say Delhi Police

The second match fixed on 9 May between Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals, Sreesanth bowled with a towel in his pant pocket which could be seen so that the bookies knew he was going to give away a certain number of runs, said the Delhi police.

In the second over, Sreesanth was to put a towel sticking out of his pant so that it could be known that the bookies should bet on that particular over, the police officials said.

The Delhi Police then proceeded to show a clip of how Sreesanth bowled his first over in the match without a towel sticking out of his pant pocket and the next over where the towel was clearly visible.

He also said that the fast bowler took some time to do some stretches to allow the bookies to place their bets. While the clip definitely looks believable, lets hope the Delhi police has more than towels sticking out of pants as evidence in the case. The transcripts of the conversations would be something a lot of us would want to get our hands.

3:00 pm: Delhi police chief Neeraj Kumar says players were paid to give certain number of runs per over

The Delhi police chief has confirmed the arrest of the three cricketers and seven bookies and described how the fixing took place.

“The modus operandi being adopted was that there was an agreement between bookies and players that they would give away a certain amount of runs,” Kumar said.

The bookies had told the players to give indications that they would be acting on their instructions by gestures like taking a locket from a shirt, looking at the watch and other innovative methods, he said. The first time it was seen was a match on 5 May between the Royals and Pune Warriors.

“As per an agreement Chandila gave away 14 runs in an over. However, he did not give a signal. Because of that the bookies could not place the bets and there was argument over the money and the bookies sought money should be returned,” he said.

The money paid was Rs 20 lakh, Kumar said. The Delhi police also showed a clip of the over in question.

2:20 pm: Indian players well paid enough, this is a question of greed, says BCCI chief

“If anything you can call it greed. It is not a case of a player not having adequate money,” Srinivasan said.

He promised further action on regulation in the IPL.

The BCCI chief also denied that the scandal was something the board was aware of before the arrests were made.

“It was a bolt from the blue. We will see whatever is necessary will be done. The board is clean and we will continue running it that way,” Srinivasan said.

He continued to defend the IPL and said that almost all cricketers are very honest but ‘bad eggs’ need to be removed.

2:10 pm: BCCI chief says they thought action taken last year was enough deterrent

The BCCI chief refused to be drawn into the possible scale of match-fixing in the IPL.

“We cannot tarnish everyone with a broad brush that would be wrong,” Srinivasan said.

He refused to comment on the interview given by Sreesanth’s father blaming

“When we made an example last year we thought people would not indulge in such things. We will not lose hope,” Srinivasan said.

The BCCI will take all steps necessary to stop players from indulging in such activities, he said.

2:00 pm: BCCI chief says they acted the moment players were arrested

The BCCI chief has expressed his shock over the incident and promised strong action.

“We acted the moment we have the information that the Delhi police had arrested the three players,. We have not seen the FIR. But the mere fact that they have been arrested is enough for the BCCI,” N Srinivasan told the media in a video conference.

It is difficult for the ICC to keep a track of everyone, they don’t have enough people for that, he said.

“We will take action as per our rules. We have no information about other cricketers from the police. If any more information comes to the BCCI we will act immediately,” Srinivasan said.

“I do not agree that the IPL should not continue…The game of cricket should not stop. We will do everything to root out this type of corruption. But to make a sweeping statement that the IPL is untenable is wrong,” he said.

1.30 pm: If guilty, ban Sreesanth for life, says Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has expressed disappointment with news that former Indian pace bowler S Sreesanth has been arrested for spot-fixing, adding that if he was proven guilty, he needed to be banned for life.

Sreesanth played under Ganguly for the Indian national team.

“I played during an era of Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, Sehwag, VVS, Kumble and you can’t put a finger on them”, Ganguly added.

1: 00 pm: Full list of arrested persons  in the case so far

India TV has very kindly put out a full list of persons arrested in the case so far. However, Sreesanth’s name is missing:

1. Chandresh Patel alias Chandbhai Shivlal Patel, resident of Andheri, Mumbai

2. Manak Upendra Bhatt, resident of Ahmedabad

3. Amit Ramgovind Singh, resident of Ahmedabad

4. S. S. Nambiar , resident of Kochi

5. Jiju Janardan, resident of Kochi

6. RR cricketer Ankit Anil Chavan, resident of Mahim

7. RR cricketer Ajit Giriraj Chandila, resident of Haryana

12:55 pm: One of bookies arrested is Sreesanth’s cousin?

Times Now has quoted unnamed sources as saying that one of the persons arrested with Sreesanth was his cousin and also a bookie for a betting syndicate.

Jiju Pokkan Janardhan, who was arrested with Sreesanth, is reportedly his cousin and has also been operating as a bookie, the channel reported.

Janardhan also has some domestic cricket experience.

Sources told Firstpost that Janardhan used to live in Gandhinagar and played in the Under 19 and Under 21 squads but didn’t make it into the Gujarat team.

Sreesanth got Janardhan to move to Kerala and play in the Under 25 squad of the state’s team. However, he was unable to make his mark there either and moved back to Gandhinagar.

NDTV meanwhile reported that the arrested bookies had made calls to Pakistan and Dubai. As always, questions are now being raised over whether its another case involves the Dawood Ibrahim gang.

12: 50 pm: Sharad Pawar says right decision taken by BCCI, stringent punishment necessary

The former BCCI president Sharad Pawar has said that the BCCI has taken the right step by suspending the three players suspected of being involved in spot fixing.

The former ICC chief said that the BCCI should conduct a thorough probe into the allegations.

“There should a thorough probe and if guilty they should be banned for lifetime,” he said.

“The BCCI should probe the incident and give most stringent punishment because such incidents sully the name of the game and nation,” Pawar said.

And now reports state the current BCCI president N Srinivasan is expected to address the media via video conferencing at 2 pm.

12:35 pm: Sunil Gavaskar says he didn’t see anything unusual during IPL

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has played down the outrage over the arrest of three cricketers over spot fixing charges.

“We need to remember that people are innocent till proven guilty,”  he told NDTV.

“The T-20 format is such that unorthodox things are tried, sometimes they come off, sometimes they don’t. I don’t think there has been anything in the IPL that has raised my eyebrows,” he said.

Former cricketer Farokh Engineer has also said he is disappointed by the allegations of spot-fixing.

The former India cricketer is disappointed with allegations of spot-fixing re-surfacing in cricket. He says if the charges made against three Rajasthan Royals’ players are proven, it will be a big blow to IPL, BCCI and cricket as a whole.

12:30 pm : Official says BCCI president will address media, endorses zero corruption

“BCCI is all for a clean sport. We have zero tolerance for corruption and match fixing,” Ratnakar Shetty, Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI told reporters.

“Our actions are there to prove we do what we say… The BCCI president will address media through video conferencing later today,” Shetty said.

All other queries will be addressed by the president, Shetty said.

12:20 pm: All you need to know about Chandila and Chavan

Now while there’s enough and more data available about Sreesanth, do you really know about Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila? We’re guessing not.

Chandila shot to fame in the IPL after taking a hat-trick in the fifth season of the IPL againstPune Warriors. Chandila also scalped Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in Rajasthan’s first match against Mumbai Indians this season.

Read more here

12:00 pm: BCCI formally suspends all three cricketers

The BCCI has formally announced that Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and S Sreesanth have been suspended until the inquiry in case is completed by the police.

In a brief statement, the cricket board said it was “shocked” and “saddened at the recent developments”.

“The BCCI has zero tolerance to corruption. We will offer all cooperation to the Delhi police and all other authorities in their investigations in this matter. The IPL Governing Council has met and decided that the cricketers found involved will be dealt with severely,” the statement said.

“As of now, the 3 players viz; Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila and S. Sreesanth stand suspended pending enquiry. All information required to bring the persons involved to book will be collected and strictest action will be taken, if found guilty,” it stated.

“The BCCI engages the services of the anti corruption wing of the ICC to educate and monitor players and support staff in prevention of corruption of any form in the game. In fact, it is wholly unfortunate that despite such education, best playing conditions and terms of engagement offered, some players seem to be indulging in such activity,” the BCCI said.

The Rajasthan Royals team has meanwhile reached the team hotel in Hyderabad and understandably aren’t talking to anyone about the scandal.

11:40 am: ‘Shocked’ Dravid holds meeting with top team management

The three players have reportedly been suspended for the remainder of the IPL tournament this year and channels are already quoting BCCI sources as saying that all three could face a lifetime ban if found guilty.

Meanwhile, Rahul ‘The Wall’ Dravid has held a meeting with the team management of Rajasthan Royals over the issue, reports Times Now.

For a team which has made it to the play-offs of the tournament, the three arrests would definitely come as a complete downer and it remains to be seen how they will come out of it.

11: 35 am: Sreesanth controlled the two other players as well? Times Now quoted unnamed Delhi police sources as saying that the Kerala’s fast bowler may have been the central player in spot fixing racket that also involved Chavan and Chandila. The channel reported that the last payment received by the trio was co-ordinated by Sreesanth. Chandila was reportedly sent to a Gurgaon mall to collect the payment on the instructions of Sreesanth, the channel reported.

11:30 am: Malayalam channels say Sreesanth was arrested with two other suspects Malayalam TV channels reported that two persons from Kerala, named NS Nair and Jiju Pokkan Janardhanan, were also arrested with Sreesanth. However, their role in the scandal is not very clear presently.

11:20 am: Sreesanth’s father blames Harbhajan and Dhoni for his arrest

Sreesanth’s father alleged on Malayala Manorama news channel that he was trapped due to a joint conspiracy by Dhoni and Harbhajan.

“Since he spoke against Harbhajan on Twitter, they had decided to take him out, ” his father said.

Sreesanth was very close to Dhoni and knew many of his personal details, his father said, without explicitly saying what it had to do with this case.

“Dhoni had threatened him that he would never be taken back in the test side.” his father said.

His brother in law, Madhu Balakrishnan, a prominent south Indian playback singer, said that the trap was a plot to destroy Sreesanth’s marriage plans. Sreesanth is highly principled and pious and cannot do this, his mother said.

“He is innocent, this is a conspiracy to defame him,” his mother told CNN-IBN.

11:15 am: Chandila’s family says there is no truth in allegations

Not surprisingly the family of Ajit Chandila has come out in his support and said there is no truth in the allegations against him.

“It is all lies. There is no truth in these allegations,” an unidentified female relative of the cricketer said.

She said that Chandila had called them last night but had made no mention of the police.

11:10 am: BCCI chief to speak at 12 pm, Delhi police chief to speak at 3 pm BCCI president N Srinivasan is expected to address the media at 12 pm. And the Delhi police chief is going to address the press at 3 pm, reports CNN-IBN.

11:05 am: Rajasthan Royals owner says Dravid would be shattered

Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra has said what many cricket fans must suspect: Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid must be a shattered person right now. However, Kundra also has defended the IPL saying only individual players can indulge in fixing.

11: 00 am: Strong education the key to preventing future spot fixing?

Commentator Harsha Bhogle says that this case is just another instance of players indulging in things they knew they shouldn’t.

“Everybody in the cricket world knows you should not be talking money matters with people you do not know,” said Harsha Bhogle

10: 55 am: Two more international players may be under the scanner

Two more international players are under the lens, reports Times Now.

The channel also reports that in yesterday’s match against Mumbai Indians, Chavan may have been told by bookies to give more than 13 runs in his first over.

Incidentally, Chavan bowled the third over against the Mumbai Indians and was slammed for 15 runs.

10:50 am: BCCI promises zero tolerance

The BCCI is making all the right sounds for now.

We will take action against players and have zero tolerance for corruption, BCCI general secretary Anurag Thakur has said.

But the board will have to answer a lot of questions.

10:45 am: Cricket’s wall of shame

Sreesanth isn’t the first international cricketer to face allegations of match fixing. Check out our images slideshow here.

10: 40 am: In Kerala, disbelief over Sreesanth’s arrest

In Kerala, Sreesanth has been iconic, despite his emotional outbursts, after being one of the few players from the state to make it into the Indian team and was part of the T20 World Cup squad.

Expectedly the reaction from Kerala has been one of shock with few willing to believe the headlines that are flashing on their television screens.

“Well it’s sad, he’s a very fine player. He’s been the pride of Kerala. He’s a very fine cricketer, I’ve known him personally,” Minister of State for HRD  and Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor said.

“You know there is a maxim that one is innocent until one is proven guilty. So let us not judge his guilt until the proof has been provided, the courts have gone through the process, his defence is heard. I’m not prepared to condemn him until there is a conclusive determination of guilt. All I can say that it is a very sad day for those of us who like Sreesanth and his contribution to cricket,” Tharoor said.

Television channels in Kerala are also slightly disbelieving and are hinting it may be premature to condemn the fast bowler.

Sreesanth’s family has also come out in his support and said that he is innocent.

Family members were quoted as saying that the fast bowler was looking forward to a come back into international cricket and hence there was no chance of him being involved in such activities. They also alleged that he has been framed.

Even the secretary of the Kerala Cricket Association has expressed his skepticism over the arrest.

10: 30 am: Rajasthan Royals director says they will put mechanism in place

Understandably the Rajasthan Royals director says he is shocked and says they will work to put a mechanism in place.

“We are going to have to put a mechanism in place to find out how this happened,” Ranjeet Barthakaur, Director of the Rajasthan Royals told Times Now.

“We are completely surprised by what has happened. Strictest action will be taken under law,” he said.

10: 22 am: Was there fixing in yesterday’s Rajasthan Royals match?

CNN-IBN is quoting sources as saying that yesterday’s match against Mumbai Indians was also fixed.

It is a little difficult to explain given only one of the three players arrested was playing in yesterday’s match. Only Ankeet Chavan was playing in yesterday’s match and while he did not bat, he did bowl three overs for 25 runs.

10:20 am: Did Delhi police use Whatsapp to catch Sreesanth?

Times Now reports that the Delhi police had 70 phones under surveillance during their probe into spot fixing in the IPL and were tracking messaging software like Whatsapp and Blackberry Messenger.

It was while tracking these messaging services that they found Sreesanth and the two others’ involvement.

10:15 am: Kirit Azad accuses BCCI of not doing enough to curb spot fixing

Former India cricketer and BJP MP Kirti Azad says that spot fixing is a problem that has plagued the IPL and the Indian cricket board has done too little to curb it.

When five players were accused of spot fixing during last year’s IPL, Azad said he had told the BCCI to transfer the case to the police instead of probing the matter themselves.

“I had suggested that you shouldn’t take it on yourself and it should have been taken to police,” Azad said.

Azad claimed a lot of the match fixing which took place was done by individuals from Delhi.

“You will find in 90 percent of cases it is taken up by Delhi police…Much of the fixers are from Delhi,” the former cricketer said, adding that as per his information the scale of fixing was so large that in May the ICC had met with the Delhi Cricket Board to bar a person from attending matches.

Meanwhile, a BCCI official has said it was too premature to speak on it.

“It is improper to speak on this presently,” Niranjan Shah of the BCCI’s disciplinary commission chief told CNN-IBN.

10:10 am: Players from other teams also could be questioned?

Times Now quoted sources as saying that other players could also be under the scanner in the scandal.

10:05 am: Sreesanth arrested from friend’s house, two others from team hotel

The special cell of the Delhi police arrested Sreesanth from his friend’s place in Mumbai while the other two cricketers were arrested last night from the team hotel at Nariman Point.

The arrest took place immediately after the players returned to their team hotel, following their match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede stadium.

A Delhi police source said that these players were under the scanner for their role in spot fixing in some of the earlier IPL match although they did not elaborate which matches were under scrutiny.

10.00 am: Case registered against Sreesanth, two others for cheating and conspiracyy

CNN-IBN reports that the Rajasthan Royals team while leaving from Mumbai this morning, left behind Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandiliya.

A case has been registered at the Marine Drive police station against them under charges of IPC sections 420 (for cheating) and 120 (b) (for conspiracy)

There are no details of the case registered against Sreesanth.

9.50 am: Rajasthan Royals issue statement, pledges to co-operate with BCCI, Delhi police

The Rajasthan Royals have issued a brief statement in the wake of the arrest of S Sreesanth, batsman Ankeet Chavan and all rounder Ajit Chandilia. The brief statement read, “We are in touch with BCCI on spot fixing probe, will co-operate with it.”

Sreesanth, 2 more Rajasthan Royals’ players arrested for spot fixing in IPL

Three players from the Rajasthan Royals and three bookies have been booked by the Delhi Police on charges of spot fixing in the Indian Premier League.

Fast bowler and former India player S Sreesanth, batsman Ankeet Chavan and all rounder Ajit Chandila were the three Rajasthan Royals players arrested, reported PTI.

The police has also arrested three bookies in Delhi and are on the lookout for two more, the agency reported.

The bookies were picked up from Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad, reported CNN-IBN.

Sreesanth has been under a cloud following a recent outburst on Twitter. Image courtesy: BCCI

Sreesanth and the two other players were nabbed in Mumbai and are being brought to Delhi, the channel added.

There were no details available on whether the three players had fixed particular matches or if they were only in touch with the bookies.

The Rajasthan Royals are in the top four teams in the ongoing IPL tournament and had played a match against Mumbai just yesterday.

Chavan was a part of the squad that played in yesterday’s match and bowled three overs for 25 runs, while the two others did not play in the game.