'Dawood suffered Rs 50 crore loss due to third no-ball': Sports : India Today

'Dawood suffered Rs 50 crore loss due to third no-ball': Sports : India Today

'Dawood suffered Rs 50 crore loss due to third no-ball'

Aariz Chandra

Mumbai, September 6, 2010

Updated 10:05 IST

The third no-ball bowled by Pakistan against England in the fourth Test match during the recently concluded series cost underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Rs 50 crore in Mumbai alone as his bookies had no clue about it.

The latest match-fixing scandal has put the spotlight on cricket's dirty links with the underworld where spot fixing is not new. Sources told Headlines Today that only two no-balls were to be bowled by the Pakistan pacers. Bets of Rs 300 crore were riding on this match worldwide out of which betting worth Rs 50 crore was from Mumbai only, sources said.

Pakistani bookie Mazhar Majeed was assigned the task of spot fixing in this match. He was assigned the task of fixing two no-balls in two overs. The information was made available to all the bookies who had links with Dawood's betting syndicate.

Everything was happening as per the plan. Both Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif bowled one no-ball each and the bookies made huge profits. But the tables turned when Asif bowled the third no-ball. It left the bookies in Mumbai stunned as they incurred huge losses, sources said.

Dawood's men responsible for his betting syndicate in Mumbai -- Junior Kolkata and Kothari -- called up their boss Sunil Dubai. They requested him to call off the bets as following the third no-ball Mumbai's bookies had started demanding that they return their money.

Sunil Dubai then informed Shoiab Khan -- the man running Dawood's betting syndicate from Karachi. Shoaib made it clear that any hue and cry over botched up fixing could expose the syndicate so it was better to return the money and bear the losses.

Underworld links in the betting syndicate have been speculated for quite sometime. But it is only now that stronger evidence has emerged. Instructions are given from Dubai and Karachi and all moves are planned before the game. As far as profit and losses are concerned, it is all a part of the game.