'IPL is joke but match-fixing in it isn't'

He may consider the Indian Premier League a joke but former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad feels there is a serious possibility of matches being fixed in the cash-rich Twenty20 event.

Miandad said the league, currently underway in South Africa, has been witness to some surprising results where teams have lost from winning positions.

"There is a definite smell of match-fixing coming from the IPL where strange things are happening," he told the Express newspaper on Friday.

"I don't consider the IPL as cricket, it is a joke. It is strange that players who are not regular bowlers have taken hat-tricks in the league. Teams are losing matches from winning positions," he said.

Miandad feels the International Cricket Council (ICC) needs to step in and check possible corruption in the event.

"If at all such Twenty20 cricket leagues must be held they should be held under the direct supervision of the ICC or else there will always be fear of corruption taking place in matches," he said.

Miandad said it was strange that the ICC's anti-corruption unit was not present in the IPL despite the big money at stake and the number of foreign players involved in the competition.

The IPL orgnanisers rejected an ICC offer to have the anti-corruption unit supervise this year's tournament and have arranged for their own security and anti-corruption officers. 

The ICC had asked for USD 1.2 million from the Indian board to cover the costs of their ACU activities in the IPL which was rejected. 

"The ICC must stop the IPL because it is already damaging the fabric of the sport and forcing players to change their loyalties," he said.

Miandad, also a former coach of the Pakistan team, cited the example of West Indian captain Chris Gayle, who wants to give up national captaincy.

"He reached England just two days before his country's test against England from the IPL which was I think is an insult to test cricket and the result the West Indies lost badly in the test," he noted. 

"I fear that if the ICC does not step in the IPL could also end up damaging the traditional forms of cricket. Already the players are putting money above country. Only the Indian cricket board and its players were gaining from the IPL which has no financial benefits for the other boards."