A report was published in the Sunday Times about the possible fixing of the Semi-Final match between India and Pakistan has caused huge  uproar  in local and International media and  has triggered the  old game of allgations and denial.
Britain’s Sunday Times owned by The Times group (which owns Times of India as well) carried out a sting operation where a Bookie named Vicky Seth aka Manu has claimed  to have pre-decided the results of India- Pakistan Semi-final.  Vicky has been identified as a Delhi bookie, who claims to have  fixed many other  international matches  apart from Indian Premiere League, IPL and  English County.
It is not mere a coincidence that many fans had raised the doubt over the genuinity of that match last year itself, as was quite evident on CricInfo’s Facebook Page.
This was  also reported here by Biharprabha News a year ago that Semi Final match was indeed fixed.
The incident has confirmed  the deep links between Bollywood, Cricket and Bookies. Name of few well known Celebrities have popped up who acted as agent between Cricketers and Bookies.  A Bollywood actress   used to lure Pakistani players to under-perform in many matches of WC including Semi-Final. The Newspaper also published a  blurred picture of  an actress  which quickly resembled  Nupur Mehta, the key lady in  Sunny Deol-starrer Jo Bole So Nihal. Nupur has confirmed that the picture was hers, but denied any allegations of match fixing. She also threatened to sue the paper for publishing her pic without permission
The Paper further claims to have evidence of players were offered thousands of  pounds for  deciding the fate of matches. It reads as follows
Batsmen were being offered ‘typically 44,000 pounds ($69,000) for slow scoring, 50,000 pounds for bowlers who concede runs and as much as 750,000 pounds to players or officials who can guarantee the outcome of a match. The paper said bookies had used an unidentified Bollywood actress to help with the fixing and stated: ‘So rife is match-fixing in parts of India that cricket may be in danger of losing its reputation as a civilised sport played by gentlemanly rules. Instead it is in danger of becoming a byword for racketeering.’
Interestingly Delhi Police has some records of Vicky Seth, though he was never arrested (why?). Seth is known to be a well-known bookie attached to a very big betting syndicate. He started operating out of Delhi and was on the police’s radar for his alleged involvement in match-fixing  since a long time.
According to a report in TOI, Seth’s syndicate is operated very professionally. They are always one step ahead of the administration and they are equipped with latest gadgets and software too.
A Police officer was quoted saying , “You will be surprised to know that these bookies mainly operate from countries where there is very little cricket or no cricket at all. They are high-fliers and live life king size. Seth is known for his life style – he frequents the most happening dos in the city, including after-match IPL parties, because tournaments like IPL and BPL are always fertile ground for these bookies“.
While the Police has not been able to solve the mystery of Cronje case dating 2000, a much graver case of match fixing has come up to its heads for Investigation. International Cricket Council (ICC) has started its probe into the allegations and would come up with its reports in couple of months. An ICC spokesperson was quoted saying “Thank You” to the Sunday Times for bringing this incident into picture.