Shubman Gill's Ex-Teammate Arrested For Alleged Match-Fixing in LPL

The Lanka Premier League 2026 is in the controversy even before the tournament has begun. The reason for this controversy is a former India Under-19 cricketer, who has been alleged of match-fixing.

The player is none other than Manjot Kalra, the former teammate of India's current Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill. Kalra played the 2018 U19 World Cup alongside Gill and played a key role in India's title win.

Why is Manjot Kalra Arrested in Sri Lanka?

According to the SuperSport, Sri Lanka police arrested Manjot Kalra, the co-owner of Jaffna Kings, on July 17. He was suspected of bribing a player and as a result, he was arrested in a Colombo hotel.

The report claims that Kalra was about to pay $28,700, according to the inspector Supun Vidanage of the Sports Investigation Unit. He will now be presented before the magistrate before any further action.

Manjot Kalra arrest has come hours before the opening match of Lanka Premier League, which is scheduled to be the Jaffna Kings vs Galle Marvels match at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo.

The player had already informed the police when he was initially approached around 10 days ago. This intel helped the police to track down the proceedings, after which Manjot Kalra was arrested.

Early Controversies in Lanka Premier League

The LPL 2026 match fixing controversy has rocked the league even before the start of the sixth edtion. In 2019, a strict law was formed to prevent corrpution-related incidents in Sri Lankan sports.

The league has been affected with the controversy before as well and the recent controversy doesn't go well with its reputation, especially when it aims to become one of the biggest cricket leagues in the world.

The LPL team owner arrest is not the first controversy surrounding the league. Earlier this year, a Sri Lankan court had handed over a four-year suspension to a British owner of an LPL team, named Tamim Rahman for match-fixing allegations.

Tamim, the owner of the Dambulla Thunders later accepted that he tried to influence a player for betting-related purposes. Rahman was also fined 24 million Sri Lankan rupees for this offence.