India's 2011 World Cup-winning team member was in touch with bookie in 2009: report
Mumbai: In a shocking revelation, BB Misra, a lead investigator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal in 2013, has said that a top World-Cup winning Indian cricketer was in touch with a bookie ahead of an international cricket match back in the 2008-09 season.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Misra explained in detail about the contact between the 2011 World Cup-winning member and the bookie.
“There is one such instance related to an international match that was played in India. But I could not probe that instance to its logical conclusion. That is what I am suggesting. This thing happened during an international cricket match, probably in the run-up to the match. Just a day or two before the match. It happened in 2008-09,” he said.
Misra, however, did not reveal the identity of the player.
“It was a phone conversation (between the player and the bookie) that was recorded… It would have taken a lot more time (beyond) October 31. There are two voices on the telephone. Allegedly one is that of the player and the other one is of the bookie.
“If I have to investigate, I have to take voice samples of the player and the voice samples of the bookie. Send it for forensic opinion. That takes a month. And then, why do I have to do it when it was not part of my charter? It could have been done if we had more time…We didn’t get an occasion for the player and the bookie to be confronted. I managed to speak to the bookie. He did say he was in touch with the player,” he explained.
I would have confronted the player with the information I got from the bookie. But (that) evidence didn’t come from the bookie though I knew the evidence existed, I could not pursue it.
"I knew of this specific instance where the bookie had confided in somebody else, I got that information, the bookie accepted that information before me also, he was willing to give the evidence but in the last minute he decided not to,” he went onto further elaborate.
India lifted their second World Cup trophy after beating Sri Lanka in the final here at Wankhede Stadium on April 2, 2011.
