Related Links : West Indies in India : Nagpur ODI : Marlon Samuels
West Indies’ emerging star Marlon Samuels is in serious trouble as Nagpur Police have some strong match fixing charges against him. The Nagpur Police have confirmed that they have taped conversations between Samuels and a bookie by the name Mukesh Kochchar. The charges on Samuels are that he had leaked information about the pitch conditions, team composition and batting order to the bookie. The Nagpur Police have stated that they had reported the matter to the BCCI and the ICC but the BCCI is yet to receive any letter regarding the same.
West Indies had lost 1-3 in the recently concluded Pepsi Cup Series in which India had batted first on all the four occasions. The Nagpur ODI was the first game in which Windies lost narrowly by 14 runs despite chasing a mammoth 339. Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 149 from 136 balls while Marlon Samuels, the third highest scorer with 40 from 60 balls. Samuels had conceded 53 runs only in his 10 overs with the ball but his strike rate is questionable. The conversation of Samuels and the bookie were done during the night before the 1st ODI according to the Cops.
The bookie, Mukesh Kochchar with whom Samuels had shared the information is believed to have contacts with Underworld Don, Dawood Ibrahim. The ICC is keen on keeping the sport clean of any such fixing activities but the devil seems to be back following this latest developments. According to the BCCI, they have nothing to do in this regard as Marlon Samuels is from the West Indies team and at the most they could send their reports to the ICC. The next day or two will bring more light on these allegations and what the ICC and the West Indies Cricket Board will be doing regarding this. For the offences that Samuels had done, the ICC might well put a life ban on the 25-year-old!