Nagpur police say bookie ‘talked’ to West Indies player during game

The West Indies cricket team has come under a cloud with the Nagpur police today claiming it has evidence to prove that all-rounder Marlon Samuels was in touch with bookie Mukesh Kochar and passed on confidential information about the team.

The West Indies cricket team has come under a cloud with the Nagpur police today claiming it has evidence to prove that all-rounder Marlon Samuels was in touch with bookie Mukesh Kochar and passed on confidential information about the team.

Nagpur’s Commissioner of Police, SPS Yadav, wrote to BCCI vice-president Shashank Manohar on January 30 about the conversation between the bookie and the all-rounder. The police had tapped the conversation when the West Indies team was in the city for the first one-day international with India on January 21. India beat the West Indies by 14 runs.

In the taped conversation, Samuels talks about the batting line-up, what his team will do if it wins the toss and discusses his own plans to stay in Mumbai.

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Samuels, 26, is one of the most promising West Indian cricketers — he was the Man of the Match in the third One-Day International against India. Coming just weeks before the World Cup, the revelations are bound to create ripples in the cricket world and embarrass the West Indies.

A top officer of Nagpur police said that they decided not to send the transcript of the conversation to the cricket officials. He also added that they had”six tapes of detailed conversation between the bookie and Samuels where the sharing of the information amounted to violation of the ICC conduct code and compromised fairness of the match”.

It is learnt that police had kept a watch on Kochar during the Nagpur one-dayer. They taped his mobile conversation and subsequently his call to the landline phone in Room No. 206 of Hotel Pride where Samuels stayed.