IPL easy target for match-fixers: Gilchrist

Monday, June 7, 2010

LONDON: The organisers may insist it as clean but Deccan Chargers' Australian skipper Adam Gilchrist feels the Indian Premier League is an "easy target" for match-fixers as players are accessible during the event. 

"It's been discussed among players in the IPL - more wondering whether it goes on. There's a strong thought that we'd be naive to think it's not happening, because it's a pretty easy target. There's a lot of accessibility to players and it's early in its governance," Gilchrist, who is here to play for county side Middlesex, said. 

The retired wicketkeeper-batsman said corruption in cricket can only be stopped by heightened vigilance. 

"I've been made more aware of it since getting here, seeing some of those comments from players who have been approached," Gilchrist told 'The Daily Telegraph'. 

"I'd be concerned if it was happening, but I haven't seen anything concrete to say it is. You need evidence, and I've not seen any. 

"I hear suggestions and whispers, and this stuff that's come out - police coming and arresting players - is pretty hardcore. But unless you get evidence and have something to back it up, it all means nothing. So all the speculation is not good for the game, either," he added. 

The IPL is in the middle of a raging controversy presently over the ownership patterns of the eight franchises and money laundering. 

The league's Commissioner Lalit Modi has been suspended on charges of financial bunglings and there are also whispers of betting and match-fixing in the event.

source by:timesofindia.indiatimes.com