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Ajit Singh, the BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit head, has lauded senior Indian cricketers like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the efforts that they have put in in order to educate the youngsters about the menace of match-fixing and how they should never enter the dreaded zone at any cost.

The 13th season of the Indian Premier League will take place across the three venues- Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah- in the United Arab Emirates between September 19-November 10 and the ACU has tied up with UK-based company Sportradar, which will use its Fraud Detection System [FDS] to track betting malpractices in the 13th edition.

“I must say our seniors like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma among other have been brilliant and apart from the education we conduct every season, these seniors have been great mentors and have ensured that the youngsters coming in are aware that this is a zone which they should not enter at any cost. This has actually shown in how Indian players have conducted themselves keeping these things in mind,” Ajit Singh told ANI.

Since the IPL will take place in just three venues this year, it will be easier to track the movements for the BCCI ACU but the constraint of the physical movement due to the Covid-19 pandemic will pose a fresh challenge to the Ajit Singh-led unit.

“See, while the number of venues are less, the hurdles of physical movement due to the coronavirus pandemic also means that approaches if any will be made through social media. So, we are going to be closely monitoring the same and ensuring that there is nothing that escapes the team’s eyes,” he said.

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‘They should report the same to us’- BCCI ACU chief Ajit Singh on players social media accounts being handled by their PR team

Ajit Singh, ACU, IPL, IPL 2020
IPL 2020 [Photo-IPLT20]
When asked about whether the fact that most of the player’s social media accounts are handled by their PR team will cause any issue, Ajit Singh was absolutely clear that there is no scope of excuse in that case as the players would be aware of what’s going on in their accounts.

“Yes, it is handled by their teams in some cases. But at the end of the day, it is their accounts. So, the players must have a team around them which is aware of these things and no sooner they see anything suspicious, they should report the same to us. It has to be a joint effort,” Ajit Singh added.

UAE and match-fixing have a notorious history in the past. When asked if the notorious past poses a challenge to the ACU, Ajit Singh responded in the negative.

 “Since we are monitoring movements the distance doesn’t matter whether a person interested in betting is 200 ft away or 2000 ft away. The challenge is social media and we are doing all things necessary to focus on that,” Ajit Singh said.

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