Mumbai, 15 Sept

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed gambling to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore took place on the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match played a day earlier, of which Rs 25,000 crore went to Pakistan.

Talking to reporters, the Rajya Sabha MP said the Pakistan Cricket Board got Rs 1,000 crore from the India-Pakistan match, adding that "this money will be used against us".

"Gambling of 1.5 lakh crore took place in yesterday's match of which Rs 25,000 crore went to Pakistan. This money will be used against us. Doesn't the government or the BCCI know it?" Raut claimed.

A seven-wicket win for India ended on a hard-edged note as their players refused the customary handshake with their counterparts from Pakistan after a collective decision endorsed by an important member of the support staff and okayed by the BCCI.

Raut, whose party was opposed to the match, dubbed it as a farce and claimed the refusal was not a spur-of-the-moment call.

The match was played despite calls for a boycott amid heightened geopolitical tensions between the two nations following the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April and the ensuing 'Operation Sindoor' by India on terrorist bases across the border on 7 May.