The Rajasthan Royals players, Sreesanth, 30, who has played 27 Tests and 53 one-dayers for India, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, were arrested in a late-night swoop at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai, after the Royals' loss to the Mumbai Indians.

They are being flown to Delhi where they will face court. Police have refused to reveal which IPL matches were affected by spot-fixing.

Seven Mumbai bookies and three in Delhi have also been arrested.

The IPL is the richest cricket league in the world. The two-month 20-20 competition attracts the world's best players on large contracts.

But the competition also generates huge levels of gambling, especially on the subcontinent.

Low-level players have previously been caught on camera in media stings discussing spot fixing and agreeing to rig their own performances in exchange for bookies' bribes. Sreesanth, however, is by far the biggest name to be implicated.

Spot-fixing is betting on the result of a certain ball or over, or the performance of an individual player, rather than the result of a match.

In 2011, three Pakistan players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Amir - were banned and jailed for spot-fixing, after an inquiry found they had conspired to deliberately bowl no-balls at certain points in a Test Match at Lord's, in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars.

The Rajasthan Royals is owned by Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, her husband Raj Kundra, and Lachlan Murdoch.

"We are completely taken by surprise," Ms Shetty said in a statement.

"We do not have the full facts at this point and are unable to confirm anything … we will fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation.

"The management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game."

The Rajasthan Royals is Shane Warne’s former team in the IPL. Current Australian members include Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg and James Faulkner. There is no suggestion any international players have been involved in fixing.

The name of one of the Australian cricketers was thrown into the scandal late on Wednesday when it was reported on social media that a large sum of money had been found it his hotel room.

But the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, Paul Marsh, said the player was strongly denying the claims.

‘‘It’s doing the rounds on social media,’’ Marsh told radio 3AW.

‘‘He obviously hasn’t been arrested by the police like the other three.

‘‘The reality is .... is not even with the team at the moment. He denies this as vigorously as he possibly can.

‘‘He hasn’t been charged. Who knows how this story started and there’s probably limited substance to it from where I sit.’’

With Scott Spits