They hired a field, set up cameras and paid locals to dress up in team uniforms. The footage is something else
A group of conmen have been arrested by police in India after creating a fake version of cricket's Indian Premier League (IPL) to trick gamblers in Russia.
Police confirmed that the people betting on the made-up league - which began three weeks after the actual IPL finished in May - lost more than 300,000 rupees (almost $4,000).
The conmen staged the game on a farm in Gujarat, paying labourers to pretend to be players. The people involved wore kits of real IPL teams and a bogus umpire was told when to signal a boundary or wicket.
As well as this, they also hired a man to mimic famous cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle.
https://twitter.com/bhogleharsha/status/1546352576253542401?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
The matches were shown live on a YouTube channel called 'IPL'. The channel never showed a wide shot of the pitch and the sounds were also fake, with crowd noise sound effects downloaded from the internet and played through a speaker.
Players were paid around 400 rupees ($5) per match, with the conmen even managing to reach the quarter-finals stage of their so-called "Indian Premier Cricket League" before police caught them.
https://twitter.com/JElgott/status/1546500098619850754
Police inspector Bhavesh Rathod told reporters that Russian gamblers placed bets on a Telegram channel set up by the group, who then communicated with the fake umpire through walkie-talkies.
The fake umpire would then "signal the bowler and batsman to hit a six, four or get out", Mr Rathod revealed.
As reported by Reuters, police have arrested four people in connection with the case, with the suspects charged with criminal conspiracy and gambling - given that betting on cricket is illegal in India.
