Currently, the first match of the Test series between South Africa and Sri Lanka is being played in Durban. In this match, host South Africa is in a strong position and is just 5 wickets away from victory. While on one hand this is a big, good and proud news for South African cricket, at the same time an embarrassing news has also come for it. A former experienced player who played nearly 100 international matches for South Africa has been arrested on charges of match fixing. A South African criminal investigation department arrested former fast bowler Lonwaho Tsotsobe on Friday 29 November. Apart from Sotsobe, two more former players have also been arrested.
These 3 players were arrested
According to reports, South Africa’s Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) has arrested 3 players in a nine-year-old match-fixing case. Apart from Tsotsobe, the arrested players also include Tamsanka Solekile and Athi Mbalati. Out of this, Solekile played 3 test matches for South Africa but he could not do anything special. He also played 160 first class matches. Mbalati never made his debut for South Africa but had a long career in domestic cricket and played 129 first class matches.
The arrest of these three is related to match fixing in Cricket South Africa’s old T20 tournament ‘Ram Slam’. All three were accused of fixing in this tournament, after which Cricket South Africa suspended these players. According to reports, Mbalati was arrested on November 18 and presented in the court. Where his hearing was postponed till 20 February 2025. Solekile was arrested on 28th and Sotsobe was arrested on 29th November. Investigation was going on against all of them for a long time. This investigation started in 2016 after a whistleblower revealed match fixing in the tournament.
Sachin-Virat and Rohit were out
Left arm fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe represented South Africa in all three formats. He had the most success in ODI cricket. Tsotsobe had taken 94 wickets in 61 ODIs. Where he made legendary Indian batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni his victims. He had 9 wickets in his account in 5 Tests, which included big names like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Apart from this, he also took 18 wickets in 23 T20 matches. Sotsobe did not play any match in professional cricket after December 2015.