Four IPL cricketers drawn into a sprawling financial probe
A massive financial investigation in Gujarat now touches the IPL. The state CID Crime Branch is probing a ₹450 crore racket linked to a network of offices, agents, and shadow ledgers — and four Gujarat Titans players have surfaced as investors who allegedly lost money. The list includes Shubman Gill, the franchise’s captain last season, along with Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, and Mohit Sharma. Investigators say the players are being treated as victims, not suspects, and will be called to record statements.
The case opened up after the interrogation of Bhupendrasinh Zala, who officials describe as the man behind the BZ scheme — a classic pooling-of-funds operation that promised high returns, then collapsed under its own weight. During questioning, Zala admitted he couldn’t repay investments made by several high-profile clients, including the four cricketers. According to officers, Gill put in about ₹1.95 crore. The amounts for the other three haven’t been publicly disclosed but are significant enough for the CID to dig deep into the money trail.
The financial footprint is wide. Zala’s outfit ran out of multiple locations in Gujarat — Talod, Himmatnagar, and Vadodara — and leaned on a web of field agents to bring in money. Investigators have seized an unofficial ledger they say Zala maintained outside formal books. They are matching entries with bank transactions to map who paid what, to whom, and when. Officials say that while roughly ₹175 crore in transactions has been verified so far, the total flow touted by the network could be much larger, with claims of activity running into thousands of crores over time.
Arrests have started to stack up. The CID has picked up Rushik Mehta, who they believe helped manage the scheme’s finances. They have also arrested Kiran Singh Chauhan — a political figure from Mehsana and head of the Kshatriya Sena — for allegedly sheltering Zala at a farmhouse in Davada village. Chauhan has been sent to judicial custody. Each arrest, officers say, is aimed at stitching together how the money moved, who got paid, and who didn’t.
What happens next for the players? The CID plans to call them for questioning in phases, but the schedule depends on their cricketing commitments. One player is recovering from injury; others have travel. The goal, officials insist, is to document their side: how the investments were pitched, what returns were promised, which intermediaries approached them, and what proof they hold — contracts, receipts, bank slips, or even chats.
For fans wondering about the cricket angle, this is not a disciplinary matter. It’s a financial case where athletes appear to have joined a risky scheme and lost money. There’s no suggestion at this stage that the players promoted the operation or benefited from it beyond the promised returns. Their statements, though, could help the CID identify middlemen who targeted high-profile investors to lend the scheme a sheen of credibility.
How the scheme drew money, why athletes get targeted, and what the law allows
On paper, chit funds are a familiar savings tool in India. Regulated chits operate under the Chit Funds Act, 1982, and must be registered, escrowed, and audited. What the CID is looking at here, however, appears to be an unregistered pool that functioned like a Ponzi — early investors are paid out from fresh inflows, not real profits. Once inflows slow, the chain breaks. That’s when calls start going unanswered, offices go dark, and ledgers suddenly matter.
Investigators say Zala’s team used a mix of office fronts and agents to build trust. The promise: attractive monthly returns, quick withdrawals, and VIP attention. People with disposable income — small business owners, mid-level professionals, and yes, celebrities — are the prime targets. A familiar face investing money can trigger a bandwagon effect, even if that person never endorses the scheme. That’s how many such operations scale fast and fail even faster.
The CID is poring over banking trails — including flows that passed through major private banks — to reconcile entries in Zala’s seized ledger with real deposits and payouts. The headline number that keeps getting mentioned is eye-watering: activity involving up to ₹6,000 crore over the life of the scheme, with about ₹175 crore already tallied through verified transactions. The final figure will likely shift as forensics continue and more complainants step forward.
Expect a layered probe. Apart from investors and agents, the CID has summoned chartered accountants and other professionals who may have helped incorporate entities or manage accounts. They’ll comb through KYC records, look for round-tripping, scan property purchases, and trace whether funds were parked in benami assets. If investigators establish that the operation fits the definition of an illicit financial establishment, they can move to attach assets under state depositor-protection laws while criminal proceedings run their course.
What might the players be asked in the room? Expect a tight set of questions: Who introduced the scheme? Was any written agreement or post-dated cheque issued? Were returns paid regularly at first? Which accounts received the payouts? Did any agent name-drop other athletes or officials? Did they see a license, audited balance sheet, or a registered chit number? These details help investigators freeze the chain of intermediaries and map accountability.
For thousands of everyday investors watching this unfold, the advice is painfully simple. Keep every slip. If you’ve invested with this network, compile bank statements, SMS alerts, promissory notes, and screenshots. File a complaint with the CID or your local police station and get an acknowledgment. The earlier you file, the better the chance your claim enters the recovery pipeline if assets are traced and attached.
This isn’t the first time a high-return pool has brushed up against Indian sport and cinema. Over the past decade, big-ticket failures — from regional deposit schemes to multi-city prize-chit operations — have lured marquee names as investors or brand faces, often without full visibility into what sits under the hood. It’s a reminder that smart professionals can still get blindsided when a pitch feels warm, familiar, and urgent.
Why do athletes fall for it? Time pressure and trust networks. Players live on tight schedules, travel constantly, and rely on a small circle for financial decisions. A friend-of-a-friend referral can carry more weight than a brochure. And when early payouts come in, it’s easy to increase exposure. By the time a payment bounces, the principal has often doubled.
Teams and leagues have started to respond. Franchise backrooms increasingly push players toward registered advisers, create financial literacy sessions, and warn against unregulated products. The broad lesson is boring but essential: verify SEBI registration for market products, check RBI oversight for deposit schemes, and confirm that a “chit” is actually a registered chit, not a high-yield pool dressed up as one. No paperwork, no payment.
For Gujarat cricket, the optics hurt, but the substance matters more: these players are victims seeking redress. No official statements have been issued by the franchise or the board so far, and there’s no indication of disciplinary review. The CID, for its part, says it will accommodate the athletes’ schedules but expects full cooperation. Behind the scenes, legal teams will want to ensure every bank transfer, receipt, and text is preserved — because that’s what decides recovery and liability.
On the enforcement side, investigators are likely to do three things in the coming weeks. First, finish taking statements from marquee investors, including the cricketers. Second, widen arrests to include regional agents who mobilized deposits. Third, move courts for provisional attachment of any property linked to the proceeds. Parallel forensic audits will keep tallying inflows and outflows so the case file stands up in court.
There’s also the human fallout. When a network like this unravels, small investors end up waiting in long queues, filing claims, and hoping for a fair slice of whatever is recovered. Recovery rates in such cases are rarely pretty. The sooner the money trail is nailed down, the higher the odds of getting anything back.
Across India, regulators and police forces have cracked down harder on Ponzi-style pools over the past decade. Laws that ban money-circulation schemes exist, but operators keep resurfacing with new names and clever disguises. In this case, the working playbook looks familiar: cash collections dressed as investments, a roster of introducers, an aura of exclusivity, and the lure of predictable returns in an unpredictable world.
So where does this investigation go from here? The CID will try to convert confessions and documents into a clean charge sheet: roles, responsibilities, and the money map. They’ll try to seal gaps between ledger entries and bank statements, identify who benefited, and quantify the shortfall. The players’ accounts will help fix timelines and identify the first points of contact. If more investors come forward — and they usually do once big names are involved — the financial picture will get sharper.
For now, the frame is clear: four well-known cricketers appear to have been caught on the wrong side of a too-good-to-be-true promise. They will likely sit with investigators, share paperwork, and help trace the flow. Zala’s alleged operation, already dented by arrests and seizures, faces a long audit by the law. And the rest of us get another reminder to pause before wiring money into any pool that offers high monthly returns without a regulator in sight — the textbook signature of a chit fund scam.
- Key names: Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Mohit Sharma
- Alleged operator: Bhupendrasinh Zala; arrests include Rushik Mehta and Kiran Singh Chauhan
- Geography: Talod, Himmatnagar, Vadodara, and nearby districts in Gujarat
- Evidence: seized ledger, bank trails, agent network, investor statements
- Status: players to be summoned as victims; probe ongoing with more arrests possible
