NEW DELHI, Feb 7: Indian police late Wednesday accused West Indian cricketer Marlon Samuels of leaking team information to an illegal bookmaker during the recent one-day series in India.

Amitesh Kumar, deputy police commissioner in central Nagpur city, said his force had tapped conversations between Samuels and a bookmaker identified as Mukesh Kochar for two days on January 20 and 21.

Kumar said the conversations took place as Nagpur hosted the first one-day international between India and the West Indies which the hosts won by 14 runs on January 21.

“We have recorded information that Samuels leaked important team information to Kochar from his hotel room in five telephone calls on January 20 and 21,” Kumar told reporters.

“Kochar is a known associate of underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim.

“The Nagpur police has informed both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) of the matter.”Police do not have the authority to charge Samuels, only hand over their information to cricket authorities for possible future investigation.

However BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told AFP the board had not received any information from the Nagpur police. “I don't know where this has come from, we have no information about it,”said Shah.

Samuels could not be immediately contacted for comment.

Cricket was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal in 2000 when New Delhi police tapped conversations between former South African captain Hansie Cronje and an illegal Indian bookmaker during a Test and one-day series in India.—AFP