IPL turmoil as teams banned in betting scandal

New Delhi

Cricket's Indian Premier League was thrown into turmoil Tuesday when a Supreme Court-appointed panel suspended two of the eight teams after officials were found guilty of illegally betting on matches.

India's board said it would respect the verdict and pledged to clean up cricket after the shock decision to ban the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals for two years to protect "the integrity of the game."

CSK, led by India's one-day international captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and the Royals, skippered by Australian star Steve Smith, had hoped to escape with heavy fines but the panel was in no mood for leniency.

It also banned Gurunath Meiyappan -- the son-in-law of Narayanaswami Srinivasan, the Chennai franchise owner and the current boss of the International Cricket Council -- for life from cricket-related activities.

And a similar punishment was handed down to Raj Kundra, co-owner of the Rajasthan team and husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.

"Their conduct has affected the image of the game, the players and others associated with the tournament," the panel's chairman Rajendra Mal Lodha told reporters while announcing the verdict in the capital New Delhi.