A gang of fraudsters hired farm labourers to play in a fake "Indian Premier League" designed to dupe punters.
Indian police have busted the scam which was set up on an isolated farm in the state of Gujurat and used a Telegram channel to take bets.
A police inspector has told reporters that the gang built a cricket pitch illuminated by halogen lamps, installed five high-resolution cameras around the ground, and used computer graphics to flash scores on a live stream.
The players wore the jerseys of legitimate teams such as the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, all coordinated by what was termed a Russian organiser.
The proper IPL season had already finished but that didn't deter the fraudsters, who downloaded crowd noise from the internet which was played over a loudspeaker.
