Click to play videoNew Delhi: In the last couple of days, the cricket world has had to relive the ghosts of match-fixing after the Nagpur Police accused West Indian cricketer Marlon Samuels of passing on team information to a bookie.
But amidst all the speculation where does the truth lie? On a special show on the latest cricket controversy, an expert panel on Friday night tried to demystify the latest controversy and bring forth the true story.
The expert panel comprised former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla, Associate Editor of DNA Ayaz Memon, Nagpur Police commissioner S P S Yadav and businessman Kishore Kumar, who used to be a heavy cricket better. CNN-IBN’s Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai anchored the debate.
While West Indies captain Brian Lara has backed his young player, his cricket board says it will launch a probe. The International Cricket Council is expected to send a team to Nagpur, but still hasn't committed itself to just what kind of a probe it will launch.
So has Lara jumped the gun a bit or is it just a captain defending a young player?
“I don’t know what the truth is, but the media is playing it up too much by calling it match-fixing. Match-fixing is when five of the top players in a team under perform and try and lose the match. By playing it up so much, the media is not only spoiling the image of cricketers, it is also spoiling the reputation of India,” said Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
However, there is a sense that BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India) is passing the buck and in the process, India’s reputation is being spoiled. BCCI has passed the case on to the ICC, one is not sure of the kind of probe the ICC is going to launch. Is BCCI trying to protect West Indies team at the time of the World Cup?
“We are not trying to pass the buck. There are certain guidelines of the ICC. What can we do? The matter is not with regard to an Indian player. It’s about a West Indian player. ICC’s whole anti-corruption unit is based in India. A former CBI person is head of this unit. He’s already investigating the matter and in constant touch with the police,” said Rajeev Shukla.
But what is it that the BCCI wants the West Indian Cricket Board to do? Or does it not have any jurisdiction even though the incident took place in a match allegedly conducted by the BCCI?
“The BCCI does not have any jurisdiction in the matter. We can only cooperate. We are not an expert investigation panel. We are updating the ICC on every move,” added Shukla.
Media menace?
As far as the media is concerned, is it over-playing the incident or does the fact that there were conversations between a bookie and Marlon Samuels mean there is no smoke without fire?
“The report was put out by the Nagpur police. The media did not go there and investigate on it’s own. After the report has come out, there was a frame of reference provided by the Nagpur police that the media started interpreting in a certain way. Now whether it was match fixing or not remains to be seen since investigations are under way. But the ICC has zero tolerance in these matters and has a definite code of conduct,” said Ayaz Memon.
Police probe
To hear it straight from the Nagpur police, do they have evidence beyond the phone transcripts that Marlon Samuels was involved in match fixing and that he was getting money for passing on information to Mukesh Kochar?
“No, we do not have such evidence. We only have transcripts of him talking to Mukesh Kochar, sharing some information that the ICC anti-corruption cell might object to regarding the code of conduct,” said S P S Yadav.
Intelligence sources have told CNN-IBN that the police have been tracking Mukesh Kochar for some time now, that he was a front man for Dawood Ibrahim. Was this information passed on to the Maharashtra police? Was that the reason his phone was tapped?
“This information was passed on to us by some informants of our junior police officers and not by agencies you are talking about,” S P S Yadav.
When CNN-IBN spoke to Mukesh Kochar he said Marlon Samuels was like a son to him. Was it clear that Kochar was a bookmaker?
“Yes, there is evidence that he was a better. If he says Samuels was like a son to him, then it was all the more reason for Samuels to be careful in being in contact with him,” said S P S Yadav.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that the Nagpur police jumped the gun. In the case of Robin Singh, they seemed to have tainted the reputation of an innocent man by confusing someone called Robinson with Robin Singh.
“We never mentioned the name Robin Singh. The reference to Robinson or Robin Singh was altogether in a different context,” added S P S Yadav.
There also seem to be some questions about another player involved in the incident with Samuels and Kochar. Is there evidence to suggest that there was some other player in touch with him?
“The possibility cannot be ruled out but we don’t have any evidence of any other player being involved. We have not released any transcripts to the press and there are no other transcripts,” clarified S P S Yadav.
Bookie talk
Turning to former better Kishore Kumar, Rajdeep Sardesai asked him if he had known Mukesh Kochar and how he operated. It has now come to light that Anil Steel and Mukesh Kochar are the kingpins of the betting industry. Do bookies operate in different regions and specific matches? It seems that Mukesh Kochar specialised in West Indies while Anil Steel specialised in matched in New Zealand and Australia.
“I have heard of Anil Steel but not of Mukesh Kochar. I would not know much about a bookie betting on a specific match. But today, gambling has changed from winning to losing to 15-over games. Getting a number of a bookie is not easy though. You should have a good introducer,” said Kishore Kumar.
In A Fix
Could Marlon Samuels actually be responsible for fixing the match? Could a match like the one in which both the teams scored over 300 runs, one of the highest scoring matches in the country, be fixed in any way?
“If you are a player playing for your country, you are supposed to give you life on the field,” said Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
But can a player fix a match without the captain having no clue about it? Should Brian Lara also be questioned on this regard?
“If you want to fix a match, you need the support of at least four or five players in your team. You cannot win a match, you can only lose it. The truth will come out only after proper investigation,” said Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
“I did not feel, looking at the Nagpur match, that it was fixed. Look at it this way, South Africa chased more than 400 runs playing Australia last year. Cricket is such a sport, once you start suspecting, everything becomes suspect. But since 2000, what has happened is that South Africa has team meeting to discuss whether they should take money or not. So there is a backgrounder that something like this happened. The sport is in a difficult time right now. Yes, Samuels did pass on information about the match but how vital it was to influence the match, only investigative agencies can tell,” said Ayaz Memon.
The fact that some information may not influence the match, change the nature of the investigation?
“Both the possibilities are there. Information of this kind could influence the match or it may not fix the match. But this kind of sharing of information does violate the code of conduct,” said S P S Yadav.
But was there any other vital information other than that was passed on and were these conversations daily?
“We do not know about their daily conversations. We know as of now that the information that was passed was not enough to fix a match. But it can be exploited by a better,” S P S Yadav.
If Samuels was to tell Mukesh Kochar that ‘I’m coming on first change to bowl’, how much money could he make on something like that?
“He could earn from around Rs 20-30 crore,” said Kishore Kumar.
But can a captain, by making certain decisions, fix a match? “Though I still think you need a collaboration of players to fix a match, being the captain, yes, you could make some changes which could lead to losing the match,” said Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
Nailing the culprit
Given the ICC rules and past records of match-fixing, are the phone transcripts enough to nail Samuels? Can the police show a quid pro quo in the Samuels-Kochar relationship?
“The transcripts are enough to show breach of code of conduct of ICC but not to nail him for match-fixing,” said Yadav.
But should the police have not waited a little while to get some more clinching evidence before going to the press?
“The information was with us and we gave it to the superiors. It was not indicative of any crime in India,” said Yadav.
Blast From The Past
Having a case like Salim Mallick being banned for life, Wasim Akram being let off with a warning, Azharuddin is banned for life, while other cricketers are back. Are the rules different for different people?
“I think it is established that players from all over the world have been investigated for this. I also think that the punishments were apportioned according to the crime. But I think there was clearly leniency towards players from Australia for example Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, they were let off with just a fine,” said Ayaz Memon.
Common Man’s Game
Most people seem to be retaining their faith in the game post the Samuels-Kochar incident.
“I think what cricketers were yesterday, are today and will be tomorrow is all because of the cricket-loving public. If anyone tries to cheat the public, they deserve to be punished. I think now it’s all in the past. In our country, the new generation of cricketers will not do such a thing, I’m sure,” said Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
After Azharuddin was banned for life, has Indian cricket learnt its lesson? The silver lining in the Nagpur case seems to be that no Indian cricketer seems to be involved in any way.
“There is a paradox here. Since the game has so much money to offer, there is greed as well. All major sports have gone through this kind of a crisis. But measures have to come in to make sure it doesn’t it get out of hand,” said Ayaz Memon.
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