Cricket's Shame

With the death of former controversial South African captain Hansie Cronje in 2001, we cricket lovers thought match fixing had once and for all vanished. Both match fixing and betting was unheard of  in these last nine years, leading us to believe that finally cricket and money have travelled different directions (has it really?? think about IPL) But once again match fixing with its ugly head has risen as if to remind us that it was on a honeymoon trip with its former fiancee, 'betting'. Any guesses about the country which has broken the belief this time?........No surprises, the name wont make you feel like a rabbit caught in the headlights!! . Its the country which is always in news for all the wrong reasons.The country which is trying hard to save its face from humiliation and consequent boycott from not only cricket and sports, but other spheres too. Its Pakistan.
Thank God Mr.Jinnah is'nt alive today else he would have been as good as an ostrich, burying his head underground in shame!.
      
       Strangely, Indian bookies are approaching only Pakistanis and others, but not our players. Guess they have done their homework well.They know that the coffers of our players have already overflown, thanks to Mr.Lalit Modi (somebody please exculpate him, he is too opulent a person to be incarcerated. How long is BCCI going to drag this drama??)


        Coming back to the epitome of this shameful saga, what is wrong with Mohammed Asif ? I guess he wants to be the next Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan. Not too long ago Asif was banned for almost two years for getting drugged. And now match fixing. Just when it seemed his career was seaming in, directed straight towards middle stump, he has conceded a rank low full toss which has been smashed out of the park.


         What about Mohammed Aamer? Just a kid of 19 years with exceptional talent. Bowled the hubris out of the Australian batsmen in a recently concluded test series. And now this! He was compared to a juvenile tiger who had just started tasting blood. Alas! tiger himself has choosen to be vegetarian instead!. Nothing just seems to be impossible in Pakistan. So dont be surprised to see a Times of India front page quoting, 'Mohammed Aamer was indoctrinated by the LeT regarding match fixing!'


          The brouhaha and imbroglio surrounding this scandal has really shaken up a lot of cricketing pundits. Many of them are going for zero tolerance towards these tainted players. But what I as a cricket fanatic (would soon be using a lighter term though, like say, follower?) am worried about is, what about the taint these tainted players have caused to cricket? A point has come now, going by the the present trend, it can be said that cricket has lost much of its sheen(Please, for God's sake, all you IPL monomaniacs, by the term cricket my only concern is for international matches) At such a juncture this fiasco involving match fixing couldnt have been better timed!.


          With so much cricket being played it occurs neither the players nor the 'used to be' fanatics like me are  interested in international matches anymore. Like say does it make a huge difference(emotionally, offcourse) if India loses a final against Sri Lanka? (Oh! how can I separate India's better half from India itself?! In the last one year these two have featured in five tournaments and 36 bilateral ties,tests excluded!wooff!.) What it takes is a Suraj Randiv's deliberate No-Ball hungama to wake me up from sleep and remind me 'Aha! there was a match today'!
 Clearly, our passion, fervour, zest, fetish,whatever you may call, for cricket, is waning. I may be engaged in a polemic here by those IPLmaniacs but that wont inhibit me from saying that IPL to a large extent is responsible for this waning of fetish.


           May be, and i reiterate, may be, the non inclusion of Pak players in this year's IPL is a reason behind this latest scandal too. I mean who would not envy the money being virtually foisted upon the IPL players?! May be the cupidity generated from this jealousy have defiled and vitiated the minds of young Mohammed Aamer. Though its just a conjecture, the possibility cannot be ruled out blatantly.

          
           Now, its upto Mr.Sharad Pawar and ICC to deal with these tainted players(dont worry Mr.Pawar, it would be a much easier task for you to dispense than the PDS imbroglio back home). However, whatever be the output of those dealings, one cannot renege the fact that the amount of disrepute this scandal has brought to cricket, it would be a herculean task to prevent cricket fanatics like me from turning into apathetic viewers of this beautiful game!