Dalmiya denies communication with South African board

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the BCCI, has denied any communication from the Indian Board to its South African counterpart regarding the police action against a few South African cricketers in the match-fixing case. The statement made by Dalmiya added a bit of intrigue to the whole issue as it came after a completely contradictory one made by the spokesperson of the BCCI. Press Trust of India reported that a spokesperson had clarified that a "communication" was sent to the South African board which assured them that none of their cricketers would face any action from the Indian police and that the issue "has been settled."

However, when asked about the mentioned "communication" between the two boards, Dalmiya was categorical in his denial. UNI, a news agency, quoted Dalmiya as saying, "I am not aware of any such communication made by the board. This is rubbish. Besides, what is the board's locus standi? How can we assure the South African board regarding police matters?"

Similar sentiment was also voiced by Moabi Litheko, the communications officer of the South African board. According to The Indian Express, Litheko denied the alleged communication and said, "Despite us writing to the BCCI, we haven't received anything from them and we are completely unfamiliar with the situation at this moment. Presumably, they [the BCCI] need some time to sort the issue out. We need guarantees. We don't want our players to be troubled when they are in India for a cricket tour."

KK Paul, who is presently the Police Commissioner of Delhi, was the chief of the Crime Branch when the whole match-fixing imbroglio rocked the cricket world. He clearly said that the case was still "obviously open" and that the police department had not received any sort of message from either board. More importantly, he added, " ... it's all too early to give any guarantees of that sort. Especially because no one has bothered to get in touch with us."

Paul was also slightly upset about the lack of response from the South African board. He cited how the Delhi Police had helped out Shamila Batohi, the chief prosecutor in the King Commission, who was in India in September 2000. "If you remember Shamila Batohi was here and we helped her. But they haven't responded to our requests and no response has come in from them on the things we wanted."