A group of unemployed youth from the Molipur village, Gujarat started a setup of fake IPL. They started accepting betting from the Russian gamblers from cities like Tver, Voronezh, and Moscow. The tournament was streamed live on YouTube channel for two weeks.
Since the introduction of T20, the shorter format cricket, the craze for the sport rose immensely. Added to that, it opened doors for the gamblers to make business on the sport.
Gujarat Fake IPL Story
According to Times Of India, Some laborer’s and unemployed youth from Molipur, Gujarat, setup a fake IPL setup in their village. The tournament was streamed live on YouTube channel for almost two weeks. This version of IPL had every detail including the franchises including Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore, etc.
As per a news report in Dainik Bhaskar, each ‘Player’ was paid as low as Rs.400. They had to pose as star players from Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Gujarat Titans.
HD cameras and Led lights were placed on the field and the sound effects were added. Big speakers were placed to make a duplicate voice from the crowd. They also created a fake commentary setup to cover up the things. The umpires were seen using walkie-talkies during the game.
How the Scam Got Exposed
Things were going according to the plan, bets were coming in, people were making money. Unfortunately, the police caught the con men taking a whopping amount of Rs.3 Lakh from Russian bettors.
Culprit Shoeb Davda
According to TOI, Shoeb Davda, the main culprit in this fake IPL tournament. He spent 8 months in Russian pubs that were famous for taking bets. He met Asif Mohammed, who introduced the Russian punters in the pub to the nuances of cricket.
Shoed used to collect bets from Russian gamblers using Telegram application. In addition to this he created a channel, where he used to get bets from the people. He used to instruct the umpire over walkie-talkies. He gave directions on how the play should go and the players should play according to his signals.
Tweets and Responses
“Can’t stop laughing. Must hear this “commentator”,” tweeted Harsha Bhogle.
Can't stop laughing. Must hear this "commentator" pic.twitter.com/H4EcTBkJVa
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 11, 2022
Anand Mahindra, the chairperson of the Mahindra Group, tweeted: “Just incredible. And if they had called it the ‘Metaverse IPL’ they could have gotten a billion-dollar valuation!”
Just incredible. And if they had called it the ‘Metaverse IPL’ they could have gotten a billion dollar valuation! https://t.co/62j974dL2U
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 11, 2022
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