5 captains approached by bookies for spot-fixing in the past year

In cricket, players have been approached by bookies to provide some essential information, achieve specific things or even to throw matches. Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad was recently approached by a bookie and on Monday the International Cricket Council (ICC), revealed that as many as five International captains have been approached by bookies over the past year.

Alex Marshall, the general manager of the anti-corruption unit of ICC also revealed that out of the five captains, four are from the ICC Full Member countries.

“Corruptors love captains. They look for intermediaries. They look for weak links. Five international captains — four Full Members, one non-Full Member — were approached in the last one year. The corruptors like T20s. They like the explosion of T20 tournaments,” Alex Marshall said at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Monday.

“We can’t give out the names. But there have been five international captains who reported suspicious approaches,” he added.

Marshall said that most of the bookies were Indians but also added that that doesn't mean they operate out of India. According to him, T20 is a format that is ideal for spot-fixing due to its fast-paced nature and he added that there are bookies are all over the world approaching players.

Regarding the recent report of bookies approaching Shahzad, ICC said that he was approached during the ongoing Asia Cup 2018 and was asked to underperform in the inaugural match of Afghanistan Premier League (APL). APL is a T20 tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board that will be played in Sharjah in October.

The Anti-corruption unit of ICC conducted 32 investigations and three sting operations in the past one year. Out of those 32 investigations, 23 were initiated based on reports from players and match officials.