Indian cricket team banned from visiting casinos in Australia

Indian cricket team banned from visiting casinos in Australia

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keeping a close watch on its players, even from a continent away.

Indian cricket team banned from visiting casinos in AustraliaThe Indian cricket team, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was in Australia over the weekend to play the One Day International against the Aussie team. And to—possibly—boost the team’s morale, the BCCI announced the team that they are banned from visiting casinos while they’re in the country, One India reported.

The unprecedented instruction was relayed to the team during their bus ride from Brisbane to Melbourne, where the tournament was held.

According to The Sunday Express, BCCI President Shashank Manohar and Secretary Anurag Thakur were worried that the cricket players would meet the “wrong people,” or be seen at a place not suitable for a national player, especially since the team is staying in five-star hotel in Melbourne that houses one of the country’s most famous casinos.

The team will be in Australia until January 31.

BCCI has been hell-bent on building the image of cricket in the country following the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing and betting controversy, whose saga ended last year with the Supreme Court of India appointing the Lodha committee to mete out punishments to the masterminds behind the IPL betting scam, including the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years and a lifetime ban to ex-CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra from participating in cricketing affairs.

It also didn’t help that Indian-born South African cricket player Ghulam Bodi was revealed to have attempted to “fix or otherwise improperly influence” aspects of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge in 2015. The retired one-day all-rounder, who was charged an “intermediary” for his role in the match fixing probe, also faced additional charges for failing to cooperate with the investigation carried out by anti-corruption officials.

If found guilty, Bodi could face jail time under South African law.