New Delhi:
The world of cricket gets murkier. An Australian newspaper has nowreported that players Shane Watson and Brad Haddin were approached by asuspected Indian gangster and both reported it to the authorities.
A report published in the
Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday morningsuggests that the two Australian cricketers, Watson and Haddin, wereapproached by a suspected Indian gangster with links to illegalbookmakers.
This allegedly happened during Australia's tour of England last year and then the T20 World Cup.
The newspaper report said both cricketers reported the incident toauthorities and neither is suspected of any wrongdoing. It also saidthat the same man approached other international cricketers, anofficial from Cricket Australia and a member of the media during theT20 World Cup in England.
The ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) is believed to have started investigating this.
Pakistan's Australian tour in January this year, particularly theSydney Test, has now come under scrutiny after a British tabloidpublished details of a sting operation where a bookie boasted of how hehad fixed matches.
However it has now emerged that the ICC's ACSU had told three countriesin the sub-continent to keep a close watch on their players. One of thetainted Pakistani players Mohamed Asif's former girlfriend Veena Mallikclaims that the bowler had told her that Pakistan would not win anymatch till 2010.