Nagpur police give recording of Samuels-Kochar talks to ICC

Nagpur, Mar 1 (UNI) The Nagpur police today handed over the recording and transcript of the alleged conversation between West Indian player Marlon Samuels and bookie Mukesh Kochar before a one-day international (ODI) match here in January, to the representatives of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar said a CD containing a recording of the conversation between Samuels and Kochar, and a transcript to ICC officials Allan Peacock and Niranjan Singh Virk.

The recording and the transcript had not been handed over to the world cricket body so far because it needed clearance from the Central government, since ICC was a foreign entity.

The clearance was received recently and hence these were released, Mr Kumar said.

The cricketing world had been rocked by the hints of another match-fixing scandal early last month when the Nagpur Police revealed that Samuels had spoken at least thrice over the telephone to Kochar before the first ODI match between the West Indies and India held in Nagpur in January.

Samuels is said to have passed on information like the composition of his team, the batting line-up and the bowling order, as well as when he himself was to come on to bowl, the police had said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police had tapped the telephone lines at the hotel where the team had been put up. However, since there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, the Nagpur Police did not initiate any action, but informed the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and the ICC of the conversation, since it was a violation of the code of conduct for the players.

A team of ICC officials had also come to Nagpur some days ago to conduct a first-hand investigation into the incident.

UNI