The Goa Cricket Association has terminated CM Gautam's contract in the wake of his arrest for alleged involvement in Karnataka Premier League spot-fixing saga.
Darshan Mishal has been named Goa’s captain for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, starting November 8.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) on Thursday (November 7) arrested Bellary Tuskers’ skipper CM Gautam and his teammate Abrar Kazi for spot-fixing charges in the KPL final, which was held in Mysore on August 31, 2019.
Both of them were allegedly paid Rs 20 lakh for batting slow in the summit clash, and also fixed another match which they played against Bengaluru Blasters.
"As soon as we came to know about the incident, we have terminated his contract. We have also informed the BCCI about the decision," Goa Cricket Association secretary Vipul Phadke told Sportstar.
As per the report, Gautam travelled with the Goa team to Visakhapatnam for the Syed Mushtaq Ali fixtures.
Contrary to the reports claiming that he was arrested from the team hotel, Joint Commissioner of Police (CCB), Sandeep Patil, said that Gautam was arrested in Bengaluru on Wednesday night
"We called him here and after interrogation, he was arrested in Bengaluru," Patil said.
Commenting on the turn of events, Phadke said: "It's a shocking development for us. We had brought him on board as a professional cricketer this time. And he was also named the captain. But we have already written to the BCCI informing them about our stand."
The Goa Cricket Association has also terminated the contract of video analyst Hari Shankar.
"There was some suspicion about him as well. We didn't know earlier but now that we have been told about it, we have decided to end our association with him as well," the secretary said.
Goa will start their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign against Baroda in Kolkata on Friday (November 8).
(Inputs from Sportstar)
