5 Indians fined for illegal betting in BPL 2019

What's the story?

After being deferred due to elections in Bangladesh last year, the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League got underway on January 5 at Dhaka. The league features seven teams with players from multiple nations taking part in it.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday a mobile court found five Indians guilty of illegal betting through mobile phones during a BPL game. They were later fined with Tk 4,000 and expelled from the stadium, a report by Cricbuzz revealed.

The background

After the rise of the Indian Premier League, multiple cricket playing nations began to organize the Twenty-20 leagues in their respective countries. Likewise, Bangladesh also started its own league in 2012 and the tournament has since completed its five editions.

The sixth one was previously scheduled to start in October last year, however, the league was shifted to January due to security reasons around the General Elections in Bangladesh.

The heart of the matter

In view of raising illegal betting in Bangladesh, the local administration in Dhaka, Chittogram, and Sylhet had appointed mobile courts in order to get rid of culprits involved in the betting during the last season. The organizing body of BPL followed with the same for this edition as well.

These courts have already punished 20 people, includes six Indians in the three days of BPL thus far. Those found guilty would not be allowed the coming matches of the league. The mobile court of executive magistrate Imrul Hasan while confirming to Cricbuzz said,

"They were involved in betting with mobile phones. We imposed a fine of Tk 4,000 for each and expelled them from the ground. They will not be allowed to watch any more BPL game this season."

Cricbuzz also claimed that three among the guilty- Deepak, Sanjeeb Kumar, and Sunil Kumar- belong to Haryana.

What's next?

The BPL will continue with a double-header taking place tomorrow. The first match will be between Sylhet Sixers and Chittagong Vikings while the second match will be between Khulna Titans and Rajshahi Kings.