London, Oct.7 (ANI): Punters put illegal bets worth a billion dollars on a single India-Pakistan cricket match, a spot-fixing trial judge was told here on Thursday.
Corruption investigator Ravi Sawani said at least 200 million dollars would be bet in Mumbai during a one-day game against Pakistan.
The Sun quoted Sawani, of the International Cricket Council, as saying: "If you take all the cities it is USD1billion on that single match." e told Southwark Crown Court that illegal markets allowed bets on "any type of fancy thing" - even the number of players wearing caps - and bets could be made just seconds before an event.
Sawani was giving evidence at the trial of Pakistan aces Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, allegedly part of a ring that orchestrated three no balls during the Lord's Test against England last year in order to rig gambling markets.
Asked what the odds would be for predicting the bowler and precise moment of a no ball, Sawani said: "Very high."
Jurors were shown TV footage of an infamous no ball delivered at Lord's by Pakistan's Mohammad Amir, 19 - with prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC noting the bowler overstepped the crease by an "enormous" margin.
Butt's Croydon-based agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, and three players were allegedly paid 140,000 pounds by an undercover reporter to arrange three no balls at Lord's.
The court heard Majeed and the News of the World journalist had agreed to a deal for skipper Butt to play out a maiden over - not scoring for six balls - in a previous match. But Butt batted earlier than normal and was unable to stop runs being scored because the new ball travels faster.
The court heard Majeed told the reporter that seven members of Pakistan's team were willing to fix matches, naming Butt, Asif, Amir, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Imran Farhat.
Asif, 28, and Butt, 27, deny conspiracy to cheat and accept corrupt payment. The trial continues. (ANI)
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