KPL players reported approaches to ACU, says KSCA secretary

Two days after it was reported that unusual betting patterns in the Karnataka Premier League in India had caused concerns for bookmakers in England, the Karnataka State Cricket Association, which runs the T20 league, confirmed that some players had reported approaches made to them to the Anti-Corruption Unit.

"Yes, there have been people from Rajasthan who have approached players in the league, but then the players have reported all such activities to the ACU officials," Sudhakar Rao, the KSCA secretary, told Hindustan Times. "The Anti-Corruption Unit is now looking into the reports and we are awaiting their version before taking any action."

The match between Hubli Tigers and Bijapur Bulls on August 16 was the fixture that had unusual betting patterns. Just before the toss, Hubli were 1.9 (10/11; meaning the market's expectation of a win for them was almost the same as its expectation of a loss) but, by the time the game started, enough money had been pumped into the market that the price moved to 1.2 (1/5) suggesting a great deal of confidence in Hubli's victory. Hubli subsequently won what appears to have been a fairly unremarkable game by four-wickets with seven deliveries to spare. As a result of the betting activity, however, Betfair withdrew markets for the rest of the tournament.

"We did not see anything untoward from a team's standpoint and from a cricketing standpoint," Rahul Kargal, the Bijapur manager, said. "Everything is under wraps as far as the franchise is concerned and we control everything which happens with the team and all the strategies which are in place.

"Just so you know, there is one anti-corruption unit representative who has been embedded with each franchise. Now, he monitors the movement in each team, players and managers included at all times. He stays in the hotel, travels with the team for any official or unofficial arrangement. He even comes to the practice session and all the respective franchise managers make him aware of all the movements and developments at all times."