Chandigarh, June 30
Five domestic cricketers, ‘stung’ by India TV allegedly indulging in corrupt practices, have been banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on the basis of an inquiry. Four of them were with IPL teams and the TV expose, telecast in mid-May when the T20 tournament was reaching its final stage, caused huge embarrassment to the IPL and the BCCI.

Madhya Pradesh pace bowler TP Sudhindra gets the harshest sentence, banned for life, after Ravi Sawani, head of BCCI's anti-corruption unit, found him guilty of "receiving a consideration to spot-fix" in a domestic game.

Uttar Pradesh pacer Shalabh Srivastava has been banned for five years after being found guilty of agreeing and negotiating to fix a match, though no fixing took place.

The remaining three players were banned for one year each "for bringing the game into disrepute through loose talk and unsubstantiated bragging". They are Himachal Pradesh all-rounder Abhinav Bali, Madhya Pradesh batsman Mohnish Mishra and Goa off-spinner Amit Yadav.

A BCCI committee consisting president N. Srinivasan and vice-presidents Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah passed judgement on the players on the basis of Sawani's report.

The punishments stand effective from May 15, when they were suspended by the IPL Governing Council on the basis of the India TV report.

India TV had telecast a player bowling a no-ball in a domestic limited-over match, and played a recording with, it claimed, a current IPL player negotiating a fee to bowl a no-ball. It also showed three players caught on hidden camera negotiating lucrative IPL deals, including payments above their stated fees on contract.

Sudhindr played three matches for Deccan Chargers in IPL 2012. Srivastava, of Kings XI Punjab, played none this year. Pune Warriors' Mishra played one. Yadav hasn't played an IPL game yet and Bali is not part of the IPL.

The Tribune has learnt that the players are mulling legal action against the BCCI ruling, though they have the option of first lodging appeals against the bans with the BCCI. "It's unfair to ban a player on the basis of "loose talk and unsubstantiated bragging"!" a source close to one of the players told The Tribune.