Colombo: The cricketing fraternity was shocked after India’s former U-19 World Cup-winning star Manjot Kalra was arrested in Sri Lanka on Friday.
The 27-year-old Kalra was arrested by Special Investigation Unit (SIU) police for the Prevention of Offences Relating to Sports, from a five-star hotel in Colombo just before the start of the opening match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026.
Kalra, the co-owner of Jaffna Kings franchise of the LPL, has been charged over allegations of attempting to bribe players and influence match outcomes.
According to SIU Inspector Supun Vidanage, Kalra was allegedly preparing to hand over 95 lakh Sri Lankan rupees to a player.
Kalra was a key member of India’s 2018 U-19 World Cup squad, along with the likes of Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Arshdeep Singh and Riyan Parag.
Kalra scored an unbeaten century in that U-19 World Cup final, helping India race to an 8-wicket victory over Australia. While Kalra was Player of the Final, Gill was named Player of the Tournament.
However, Kalra couldn’t make much headway after graduating to the senior level, where his last game was for Delhi against Uttarakhand in March 2021.
Earlier this year, Kalra became a sports investor by getting into LPL ownership. Jaffna Kings is owned by Sports Commune, a sports management firm led by Kalra and Indian entrepreneur Mayank Goel.
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