Fixing: A disrepute to the 'gentleman's game'

Cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila and bookies being produced at Saket court in New Delhi (Image credits IANS)

The million dollar baby, IPL is in its sixth edition, and not a single year has gone by where controversies haven’t taken the spotlight. Undoubtedly, fixing and doping are one of the biggest challenges faced in the world of sports. Many successful tournaments from Olympics to European football leagues have been marred by these cases and IPL is no different.

Fixing and doping have created quite a stir in the past in the world of sports. Be it Lance Armstrong‘s admission of doping while winning 7 Tour de France titles or FIFA’s sensational corruption allegations, of the rights to host a World Cup being bought, the world of sports has been left aghast by these incidents. Unfortunately, cricket hasn’t been far behind in this dubious list. Although doping is not as big a problem in cricket as it is in Athletics, fixing has certainly taken the centre seat for cricket lovers to chatter about.

Almost every IPL season has witnessed allegations of fixing and corruption. Some were proved, some were not, but it has never been clean and away from the attention of the bookies. Neither international cricket nor the other local tournaments are away from the sight of the bookies. Not so long ago, the cricketing fraternity was shaken by the case of the dubious trio of Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who accepted large sums of money for bowling no-balls in a Test match against England. Although they were banned by ICC for a certain period and were even sent to jail, nothing much seems to have changed since then. Last year, five relatively lesser reputed players were banned by BCCI after they were caught in a sting operation willing to negotiate with bookies.

Certainly, fixing is not a new phenomenon in cricket. It has always been in the news with players like Saleem Malik, Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin found guilty initially for taking part in fixing of matches. Although it was match-fixing that was a cause of concern then, spot-fixing has been a newly created menace in the modern sport. It is tough to detect, relatively easy for the players to execute and also very lucrative for both the players as well as the bookies. It is incredibly tough to identify spot-fixing on the field unless you have prerequisite knowledge of the dealings. With modern gadgets available easily to both players and bookies, it has been a tough job for the ICC anti-corruption cell and the legal authorities.

There has been a lot of effort from BCCI and ICC’s side to educate the players on the issue of fixing, but the events on Thursday were certainly a setback to all the officials involved. A team of Delhi Police which intercepted the calls between several bookies and the players for the past two months, arrested three Rajasthan Royals players including the highly controversial S Sreesanth. It’s shocking to think that in a country, where it is safe to say that cricket is a religion, a man who is a World Cup winner, a T20 World Cup winner and who earns Rs. 2.2 crore by playing for two months in the IPL, could go down this path and commit a crime for the sake of allegedly Rs. 40 lakhs. Having played 27 Tests and 53 ODIs, it is impossible to explain the greed of a man who was eyeing a comeback to the national side. Though his crime isn’t proved yet, his involvement itself is a big shock. This goes on to show the deep rooted muck that prevails in this game. The three players arrested were ironically in a team that was led by one of the finest gentleman of the game.

Even though it is a shock, there is a positive sign that such murky dealings are being caught by the law enforcing agencies. Only a strict and severe punishment may deter the younger generation to keep away from these lucrative monsters and solely focus on achieving success on the field. Today’s cricketing generation is lucky to have so much money in it. Sreesanth earned 2.2 crores in two months, which an engineer graduated from top most engineering school in India doesn’t earn for many years. Sir Don Bradman once said, “there may be many exceptional managers running the cricket bodies in the world, but ultimately the trustees of this beautiful game are the players whose behaviour will decide the future of the game”. It is also the fans who are the backbone of the game. If the fans lose their trust on the game, then the day is not far where only the bookies will rule this so called “Gentleman’s game”.