An Indian-origin British citizen is reportedly on cricket officials radar as the World Cup looms up next year after being evicted from Australia's Big Bash League matches at the Sydney Cricket Ground and ANZ Stadium over the past four days for a doubtful live betting method.
Police reportedly escorted Rajiv Mulchandani from the Sydney Olympic Park venue on Sunday after he was identified betting live on an ongoing domestic game with a laptop computer and a phone while seated behind the bowler. He was also thrown out of the SCG on Friday.
Mulchandani was twice evicted last season from Australian grounds. He was alleged engaged in the practice of 'pitchsiding', referred to as 'courtsiding' in tennis, taking advantage of the slight delay between the live action at the ground and the television broadcast of matches overseas to place bets or pass information onto others before the odds are adjusted, Stuff.co.nz reported.
International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit's one of the primary focuses would be to stamp out online betting at the World Cup, which begins in Australia and New Zealand on February 14.
But the organisers of the BBL, on which more than 600 million Australian dollars was wagered last season on Betfair alone, are also determined not to allow manipulation of betting markets on their matches.
Mulchandani was reportedly issued with a notice banning him from the Sydney Olympic Park precinct after being led out of ANZ Stadium by police on Sunday and while a blanket ban on him has yet not been slapped by Cricket Australia, they would continue to evict him if he turns up to games with his laptop.
A CA spokesman said that they do everything they can to protect the integrity of the game, adding that this man was identified and promptly evicted from the last two matches in Sydney for breaching their terms of entry. He also claimed that Mulchandani is known to police and the ICC.
