Published: May 27, 2013, 01:24 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2014, 12:02 AM (IST)
Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for his alleged involvement in betting during the Indian Premier League 2013 © IANS
Gurunath Meiyappan’s alleged involvement in the betting scandal has rocked cricket’s foundation. Cricket lovers are hurt. Will the scandal change the way we view the game? Should that happen, it will spell doom for cricket, writes Sarang Bhalerao.
There is no sadness when the players we adore and appreciate stoop down to despicable levels. The betrayal of faith invokes anger. Why does S Sreesanth want to think about anything else than bowl perfect outswingers? Ankeet Chavan, the bowling hero of the Mumbai Ranji team, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Spare a thought for the families of these cricketers. They have lost everything in a flash for no fault of theirs. They are scarred for life.
Hansie Cronje’s admittance that he had taken $10,000 to pass on sensitive information to bookies damaged the trust we had in our cricketers. Cronje personified fairness, but after he was caught in the match-fixing scandal we believed that the game had reached an abysmal low.
Now comes the news of the alleged involvement of a team owner in fixing syndicate which stained the game and shamed a nation. The Chennai Super Kings had set unprecedented benchmarks as a team. But there are serious question marks hovering over the team. We might think a zillion times now before worshipping a cricketer, before eulogising a team ,and before choosing our role models.
The thrills associated with the game might no longer evokes intrigue among the public. “This game might be fixed,” is something one often hears. The trust factor is lost.
Will the recent spot-fixing episode alter the way we view cricket? Will a bowler be looked at with suspicion for bowling a motiveless wide? Will the batsmen have to answer as to why he played an impetuous shot just when he was set for a big score? Cricket has lost it innocence.
It’s time the International Cricket Council (ICC) came forward and took charge of the situation. The Anti-corruption unit has done precious little to curb the menace of fixing.
The stench emanating from the corruption in the game is unbearable. Cricket needs to be cleaned up. Now.
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter here)
