The anger is impalpable neither there is that accustomed widespread
outrage, the emotion that is emerging as a reaction to the spot-fixing story is
probably that of being desensitized. You are sucked into believe what your
skeptical friend always told you about the correlation between the words - IPL
and fixing. The crime has been substantiated, the alleged characters have
confessed, the law enforcing authorities are widening their ambit of
investigation and the avid fan in you is left to wonder how easily your
innocent affection for the game has been maliciously tampered with, yet again.
Every sport is bigger than individuals - good or bad, and
the good old cliché of ‘the show must go on’ followed suit with decent crowds
for the post-fixing-bust-story matches. You probably tuned into Sony Max the
next day, resumed scrutinizing the points table and started building up for the
final couple of laps of this edition of the IPL. You probably realized that the
excitement wasn’t the same, the interest levels subsided and your fanaticism altered
from being ingenuous to being adulterated with the element of incredulity.
Post the 1999-00 match-fixing saga the game’s credibility
was unperturbed until the spot-fixing episode emerged during the Lord’s test in
2010. Players were booked for the crime, sentenced to jail terms and all the 3
(including a teenager) handed over life bans. The imposed penalty was unprecedented,
the image of cricket players being imprisoned was alarming and you felt that
the particular series of events was sufficient enough to deter players from
indulging in similar acts.
‘Hope is the denial of reality’ (- Margaret Weis) is a quote
which aptly sums up the BCCI’s perceived approach on contentious issues. Within
3 years after the News of the World
sting operation in London, two sets of spot-fixing stories have surfaced in
India. The stark disconnection in corruption disclosures and ACSU’s
(Anti-Corruption and Security Unit) involvement reiterates the serious question
marks about the empowerment and seriousness of the governing bodies to ensure proactive
vigilance.
Lure, threatening, blackmailing have often been cited
reasons by players after being caught. Analysts fragment such stories to
classify players into motive-based groups. It won’t be appropriate to preempt
the reasons in the current case at the moment but the frequent recurrence of suspicious
stories and the increasing, facile proximity of deceptive individuals with susceptible
cricket players is probably the biggest shocker form this story. You can
probably be convinced by the logic applied for names like Amit Singh, Ajit
Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, but it will require strong arguments to rationalize
why established names like Salman Butt (the then skipper) and Sreesanth (part
of two World Cup victorious squads) would disobey their integrity for the game and
their teams.
It is said that action must seem to be taken and not just taken;
likewise it is important that the cricket boards across the platter must ensure
that the average spectator is not deprived of a pristine contest between 22
players with integrity, at all levels of the sport. Clearly the systems in
place are insufficient; the functioning of T20 leagues is too exclusive to
merit transparency and there is too much vulnerability about young cricketers,
especially those with humble backgrounds. Education of all players is
imperative, so is the necessity for channelizing things like betting. It might
sound exaggerative, but there is an urgent need to sharpen the noose around all
entities associated with the IPL - players, owners, officials and administrators,
to ensure the authenticity of the tournament isn’t allowed to dip any further.
The BCCI is about to pass important resolutions after the
empowered group of office-bearers meet on Sunday. The expectation is that the
panel accepts this menace requires a comprehensive treatment rather than mere
eyewash. The ICC will be seeking details of this entire story soon and
hopefully the stance of the governing bodies modifies from being that of ‘zero-tolerance’
to ‘100-percent-prevention’. The controlling bodies can do much but cannot rectify
a maligned character. Leading players with impeccable integrity must step in
this hour of crisis for the game and push for reforms to ensure that the
sanctity of the sport is retained. It is imperative that corrective measures
are adopted with immediate effect, or the prospect of fans shunning off their
loyalty from the game is not an improbable possibility any longer.
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