SC says no to IPL ban, slams BCCI

Refusing to ban the remaining IPL matches, the Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) saying that spot-fixing incidents had taken place due to its lackadaisical approach to reining in erring players.A An apex court bench said it was incumbent upon the cricket body to "maintain and sustain" the reputation of the 125-year-old game.

"The whole problem is the lackadaisical attitude (of the BCCI) and it must stop," said Justice Misra in a terse observation, adding that there had to be a "rational, objective and absolutely dispassionate" approach in dealing with irregularities. The court also directed a one-man commission, headed by former Director General of Police Ravi Sawhney, to submit its report within 15 days and asked the BCCI to act upon its findings according to its rules.

Arrested Indian pacer S Sreesanth and 10 others, including two more cricketers of Rajasthan Royals franchise, were on Tuesday remanded to police custody for five more days by a Delhi court for interrogation in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal case. Metropolitan Magistrate Saumya Chauhan extended the police custody of Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila till May 26 after Delhi Police said they needed to make more recoveries and the accused are required to be confronted with each other.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police claimed that Sreesanth bought Rs 2 lakh worth designer clothes in Mumbai in a single day and gifted costly smartphone, Blackberry Z10 model costing around Rs 42,000 to his girlfriend, using the money he allegedly got from spot-fixing.

Virendra Darasingh Randhawa alias Vindoo was picked up from his suburban Juhu residence and arrested this morning for his alleged links with the bookies, who were already arrested by the crime branch. Vindoo was also into betting, Joint Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy told reporters. The Mumbai police also arrested a hawala operator and a conduit of a betting syndicate as it widened its probe into the racket, taking the number of those arrested by it to nine.

No 'Sahara' for IPL, BCCI

Pune Warriors pulls out New Delhi (IANS): Pune Warriors India, owned by Sahara India Pariwar, pulled out of the already scandal-hit Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday and announced that they will not renew their sponsorship of the Indian cricket team after the present contract expires in December 2013. The decision comes after the Lucknow-based firm's demand to bring down the franchise fee was not agreed upon by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).