Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) anti-corruption unit chief, Ajit Singh, heaped praise on Indian cricket stalwarts, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, for their contribution in creating awareness among the young, budding cricketers.
Dhoni, Kohli being such inspirational figures, Singh says, have done a brilliant job in educating youngsters against any malpractices and what to do if approached by any doubtful individual.
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"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," Singh told ANI.
"This has actually shown in how Indian players have conducted themselves keeping these things in mind."
Singh and his team's work has been made slightly easier in terms of tracking players' movements with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 being held at only three venues in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah amid bio-secure arrangements due to COVID-19 pandemic. But the man also remains wary of other methods through which cricketers can be connected with.
"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."
Even though players' social media accounts are handled by their PR teams, the responsibility of the activities on the account still lies with the player himself, said Singh.
"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."
UAE, especially the venue in Sharjah, has historically not enjoyed the best of reputation when it comes to the match or spot fixing scare. But Singh says given the limited movement, the main challenge will remain over social media.
"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," he concluded.
Sharjah will host 12 matches, while Dubai (24) and Abu Dhabi (20) will share the rest of the games during the league phase of the IPL 2020. The dates and venues for the play-offs are not yet announced.
The tournament begins on Saturday (September 19) with the repeat of the last year's final clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
