The Indian Premier League (IPL) is, without a doubt, the most popular T20 cricket league in the world. Though the league underwent a huge turmoil with controversy regarding spot-fixing and betting; it has emerged relatively undamaged.

Recently, Bollywood actor and film-maker Arbaaz Khan had admitted to betting in IPL games and he allegedly lost Rs 2.80 crore. Sonu Jalan, a bookie has taken his name during the investigation.

And now, Bollywood actress and co-owner of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, Preity Zinta has suggested that Indian government should consider making betting in IPL legal.

According to Zinta, legalizing betting in the IPL will help the government curb the corruption surrounding the mega sporting event. In 2013, IPL was hit by the biggest scandal in its history, as three cricketers including 2011 World Cup winning India pacer S Sreesanth being arrested for spot-fixing.

"I think it would be important if the government legalizes betting because it will be a good source of revenue and stuff and secondly, we can stop all this crap because how many people can you control. So, that's why I said let's do a random lie detector test, BCCI should just make it part of the policy, it will be amazing. Because of the fear of knowing that I can get caught, that's what you need. You can't police people that much," Zinta was quoted as saying by India Today. 

The actress reckoned that legalizing betting will open a new source of income through the tournament and will also help in reducing the cases of illegal betting scandals.

"You think somebody can make an offer to me and still be alive, I would probably take him to the cops. Please understand I had just got out of movies. For 10 years I was living in a studio with cameras and characters that didn't exist, so I was living in a La La Land. Suddenly I stepped out into a cricket stadium. Everybody was alien to me and to be honest, I didn't know what was happening," Zinta explained. 

(Inputs: India Today)