Rumoured bookie link for World Cup winner, Kohli on top, and more - Cricket News of today, 23rd August 2018

#2 2011 World Cup winner was reportedly "in touch with bookies"

The Indian side with the coveted prize

The lead investigator of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal recently revealed that a 2011 World Cup winning Indian player was involved in touch with a bookie before an international game in 2009.

According to a report in the Indian Express, Police Officer BB Mishra who investigated the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam, said: “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.

While Mishra did not reveal the identity of the player, he said that could not investigate further. “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," he said. There were two voices on the telephone - allegedly one is that of the player and the other one is of the bookie.

“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 explained.