
West Indies' Marlon Samuels (left) hits a ball as teammate Brian Lara looks on during a one-day international match against India in Chennai last month. - Reuters
NEW DELHI, India (CMC):
Cricket's world governing body, the International Cricket Council, has dispatched a team to Nagpur to investigate allegations of West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels' involvement with a bookie.
The Press Trust of India reported yesterday that the team comprising Anti-Corruption Unit officials was scheduled to arrive in Nagpur by Monday and would conduct discussions with police there.
Samuels has been accused of sharing team information with Mukesh Kochar who police say is a bookie.
The incident was supposed to have occurred ahead of the opening one-day international of the recent four-match series between West Indies and India on January 21.
"We have received a communication that a team from ICC will be going to Nagpur. We are ready to cooperate in the investigations," the PTI quoted a Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India source as saying.
While in Nagpur, the ACU officials are expected to talk with staff of the hotel where the West Indies team stayed.
On conclusion of the investigation, the ACU officials will forward its report to the ICC which would then suggest a course of action.
ICC to forward report
"The ICC then will forward the report to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) which will have to take action if the player is found to be guilty," the source said.
The WICB has adopted a cautious approach to the issue, noting they were awaiting information from the relevant bodies.
"We have not been officially contacted and have no information from the BCCI or the ICC. When we do we will have a complete investigation of the allegations," said the WICB's corporate services manager, Tony Deyal, in a short release Wednesday night.