Match Fixing,IPL & Gentle men Game,Cricket

I still remember the day when players like Md. Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Hansie Cronje, Harsel Gibbs were caught for match fixing and then they were exposed publicly by media, which once made these cricketers God by their exaggeration, and we, the aam janta of India became perplexed by the down fall of these media proclaimed God, it was in 1999. From then much water has flown by the Ganges, many has come in Indian cricket and many has gone too, but the trust, that used to have on the cricketers, got a massive hit. Now, whenever, we see anything eerie in any cricket match, we start to doubt on the integrity of the cricketers. And I can’t blame anybody for doing so, because the game of match fixing is still on and lots of money flowing in illegal way is taking place in the game of cricket. The new saga of IPL has made us one more time aware of this thing. It is no doubt bigger than 1999, because it is a total package of politics, bollywood, money, glamour, sex, night parties, cheerleaders and cricket, one can think of why have I put cricket at the last of this package, it is simply because I found cricket is a very meager part of this prolific package, something bigger than cricket is prevailing. The very first day when IPL was conceptualized by the ex-czar of IPL, the blue eyed guy, the innovative marketer of Indian Cricket, ex-commissioner of IPL Mr. Lalit Modi, it was evident that this show would be one of the biggest successes of this century; and Modi made it a grand success story. The very first day of IPL, the day of opening ceremony, it was clear that IPL is not just a mere cricket tournament, but a tournament of both sensual & sensational package where money flows like water. It is the tournament of cricket which will manage its place in page 3 rather in the sports page of newspapers. The gossips, masala news started to proliferate as the tournament grew bigger. The latest scandal of IPL-3, started with the stupid twitting of the then IPL commissioner Mr. Lalit Modi and spreaded with our ex-external affair minister Mr. Sashi Tharoor’s external affair with the Kashmiri beautician, 40 years old, widow, Ms. Sunanda Pushkar and her ‘sweat equity’ in the newly auctioned team of Kochi, owned by Rendezvous Sports, which eventually has become mammoth scandal with the lots of money laundering, benami transactions and many more. The scandal has become such goliath that Rs.18, 000 crores IPL is now David in front of it. As I started with the incident of 1999, so I will concentrate now on that incident, what happened after they were caught? Md. Azharuddin got a life ban from his international and national cricket career. Md. Azharuddin, who was already an irregular player of Indian national team that time and on the verge of finishing his career, was not much affected by the verdict of BCCI. Ajay Jadeja got five years exile from cricket, Hansie Cronje, who died in a plane crash after few months, was also banned by South African cricket board and Harsel Gibbs was suspended for few years, unfortunately none of them were treated with the law of the lands, because their offences are not considered as criminal offences, since no one can punish a batsman for getting out intentionally earlier in an innings, no fielder can be punished by the law for dropping a catch, no bowler can be barred for giving too much runs in an over. The players are well known of this fact and so they take match fixing as granted. The irony in India is the person who was banned in cricket for his dishonesty; he sits in the parliament as the elected Member of Parliament. But if we drill down more to that incident, we would find out that these players were only few sacrificial lambs in this catastrophe of cricket, there were bigger brains that are still behind the curtain and waiting to be exposed. These sacrificial lambs were no doubt convicts and got some verdicts but their god fathers are still walking with their erect spine shamelessly in front of our eyes. The IPL spat is any way bigger issue than that of 1999 and obviously the god fathers are much bigger than that of 1999, here sacrificial lambs are Mr. Lalit Modi & Mr. Sashi Tharoor, but here is not the end the tail of this scandal, this is much bigger and deeper than the Pacific ocean. But again like before we will wait for the day when the bigger faces will be exposed publicly, and eventually the day will never come as we have seen earlier. CBI officials and politicians will come and will give some consolidate cajolery that they will not spare anybody. Again one more time it will be an ardent example of centralization of power and money which can make media, law & order futile and impotent with their ecstatic audacity and will create new bubble of hope where bribe becomes the way and forgery becomes the means, discrepancy keeps people mum, guile with spectators becomes gospels, still we, the flabbergasted audiences, keep attach our sentiment with cricket, worship cricketers like God, cry with their sorrows and laugh with their successes, forget that the results of these matches are fixed in somewhere exotic locations abroad between few jokers of the game!!!Still we believe cricket is a gentle men game!!!Alas!!!