A knock-off version of the IPL has been shut down by authorities in India, after a group of conmen spent weeks cultivating a fake league to fool overseas gamblers.
The “Indian Premier Cricket League”, which of course has no affiliation to the real thing, was set up on a farm in Gujarat in northern India.
It’s alleged that labourers were paid a small sum to pose as players, while the matches were broadcast live on a YouTube channel called “IPL”.
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A gang took bets via messaging service Telegram from Russian gamblers, and then instructed the ‘umpire’ via a walkie-talkie to signal for either a four or six, or instruct the batter to get out.
Importantly, wide shots of the ground were never shown during play.
Inspector Bhavesh Rathod told reporters that boundary lines and halogen lamps had been used to help create the illusion.
“Besides this the accused had set up high-resolution cameras on the ground and used computer generated graphics to display scores on a live streaming screen,” he said.
A man was also paid to impersonate famous cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, who acknowledged the scam online, with fake crowd noise being pumped into the broadcast.
Footage posted online of a match between the ‘Chennai Fighters’ and “Gandhinagar Challengers” shows exactly how much effort was put in to the scam, though it’s abundantly clear to anyone with a cricket background how suspicious it all looks.
“The set-up was good enough to trick unsuspecting people into believing it was a genuine cricket league,” said Meshana police official Achal Tyagi.
Four men were arrested, and have been charged with criminal conspiracy and gambling.
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