A front-page report in the Times of India today speculated whether a major betting syndicate engineered the crowd trouble at Rajkot. Referring to anonymous sources, the report claimed that bookies, who were part of a syndicate linking Mumbai, Delhi, London and other cities, stood to lose heavily if India won and could have tried to sabotage the game. If so, India being awarded the win sabotaged their plans in turn.

The report estimated that bets worth $2million (ten crore rupees) for a West Indian win had been placed in Rajkot alone. The bookies expected India to lose, and were offering odds as much as 84 paise to the rupee if India won.

Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly upset their calculations with their 196-run opening stand. Crowd trouble broke out when India were coasting to an easy win, needing less than five an over with all ten wickets in hand.

A stray bottle was thrown at Vasbert Drakes during this period. Mike Procter, the match referee, was informed about it by the umpires, and his decision to take the teams of the field might initially have pleased bookies hoping for any result except an Indian win.

The report mentioned that its sources had said there was tremendous pressure from bookies in Mumbai and Kolkata to sabotage the match.

While no direct quotes were attributed to those anonymous sources, the very possibility of such a motivated sabotage attempt opens a new line of worry for cricket-lovers and administrators.

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