Police probe Dandiwal angle in fake Sri Lankan T20 league case

Dandiwal was recently named as the “central figure in an alleged tennis match-fixing scandal related to at least two lower-level tournaments in Egypt and Brazil. He has also been on the radar of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) anti-corruption unit.

A view of the SCA (Strokers Cricket Association) cricket ground in village Sawara in Mohali (Express photo by Jasbir Malhi)

The investigation into the matches of the Uva T20 League, purportedly played in Sri Lanka but actually held at Sawara village near Mohali, is also delving into the possible involvement of Ravinder Dandiwal, the alleged kingpin of a major international tennis match-fixing syndicate, as named by Victoria Police in Australia.

Dandiwal has also been on the radar of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) anti-corruption unit. “Yes, we are also probing Ravinder Dandiwal’s role. He could be behind this racket, since he is a local and his name had recently cropped up,” Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal told The Indian Express.

Dandiwal was recently named as the “central figure” in an alleged tennis match-fixing scandal related to at least two lower-level tournaments in Egypt and Brazil.

The interrogation of two accused Raju and Pankaj (7 have been named in the FIR) revealed that they booked the cricket ground of Strokers Cricket Association at Sawara village for Rs 33,000 through the complainant Parminder Singh, a resident of Kharar town.

READ | Hideouts of accused in fake Sri Lankan league scam raided

The complainant told the police that he works for a soft drink manufacturing company and one Goldy, who was known to him, had contacted him and asked to book the ground for holding friendly T20 matches of children from June 29 to July 5. The complainant then contacted Rinku Nehra, an official of the Strokers Cricket Association and visited the ground to book it for the tournament. Parminder then deposited Rs 10,000 in Rinku Nehra’s bank account on June 26.

“The accused (Goldy, Pankaj) had formed four teams of local players and held the matches at village Sawara and were also placing bets on the matches. I came to know about it and asked Goldy and Pankaj but they could not give me a satisfactory reply. They left after picking up all their equipment and kit from the ground on June 29,” Parminder alleged in his complaint.

Nitin Sharma

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and this year respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.