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The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) anti-corruption and security unit (ACU) is looking to crackdown on all T20 leagues that are run by state associations which have allegedly flouted the code of conduct. The ACSU has learnt about bookies and other suspicious elements contacting players, team managers and owners. The ACSU does not intend to be limited to international cricket, the Indian Premier League (IPL) and domestic cricket and is not willing to let state T20 leagues fly under the radar.
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“The ACSU has found increasing instances of bookies and suspicious persons getting in touch with the players, team owners, managers, which is against the code of conduct and rules governing the game. It is the first time that ACSU is covering all matches at state leagues, unlike previously when only Test matches, IPL and other main games were covered thoroughly,” the sources told The Indian Express.
The ASCU will begin by monitoring who players, team officials meet in their hotels during the course of these T20 leagues. The most recent incident was witnessed in the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2026 in Dindigul and Chennai where an all-rounder who made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2025-26 season was fined Rs 1 lakh and banned from playing the rest of the TNPL for bringing an undeclared smartphone to the Player and Match Officials Area (PMOA).
All T20 leagues under the scanner
The report further claims that it is not just a one-off incident. At least six players have been caught using smartphones in the PMOA areas across leagues.
After the IPL, there are several leagues that run from June to August, prior to the domestic season. It includes leagues from Mumbai, Saurashtra, Bengal, Andhra, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Kerala and Telangana.
The ASCU reportedly believes that the state T20 league teams' owners are vulnerable to bookies' offers. The ACSU is keeping a close look at them and doesn't intend to spare them if found guilty.
TNCA in touch with ACSU
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) president T J Srinivasaraj has already ensured that there is constant communication between with and the ACSU, especially after the PMOA-flouting incident.
Saikia backs ACSU
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia has backed ACSU to not overlook even the slightest of missteps that could tarnish the integrity of the game.
TNPL was under the scanner in 2019 too
The TNPL has been in existence since 2016. A year after BCCI's guidelines for state-run leagues were issued, in 2019, there was probe conducted by the ACSU on grounds of suspected communication between bookies, players and coaches. There was no public statement on the findings of the probe.
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