Watson, Haddin got calls from bookie-linked gangster
Australian cricketers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin were approached by a suspected Mumbai gangster, linked with bookmakers in India, during the tour of England in 2009, a media report claimed on Tuesday.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald said Watson was approached in the bar of the team's West London hotel, the Royal Kensington Garden, after the Lord's Test, and Haddin was confronted during the World Twenty20 tournament in 2009.
"Both players had immediately reported the approaches to the authorities and neither is suspected of any wrongdoing," the newspaper said. The report has come after spot-fixing allegations against several Pakistani cricketers, including captain Salman Butt, have shocked the world cricket.
Mazhar Majeed, an alleged match fixer, claimed in a sting operation by a British tabloid that several Pakistani cricketers were involved in spot and match fixing. This led to Majeed's arrest and investigation into the issue by the International Cricket Council and Scotland Yard.
The London Police has already questioned pace duo of Mohammed Asif and Mohammad Aamer and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. During the fourth Test against England, which finished on Sunday, Asif and Aamer bowled no-balls at the exact moments predicted by Majeed to an undercover journalist, who paid him 150,000 pounds for the information.
According to Sydney Morning Herald, Watson and Haddin were approached by the same man, who sought to procure information from other international cricketers and at least one member of the media during the World Twenty20 tournament in England.
"Senior International Cricket Council sources described him as a Mumbai gangster with links to illegal bookmakers in India," the report said.
"A Cricket Australia spokesman yesterday confirmed approaches had been made to two players during the tour of England, and to a CA official. Watson and Haddin declined to comment," the report added.
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