13 March, 2011

MATCH FIXING: Gentlemen’s Game not Remained that Gentle.

The dark side of Cricket is revealed to the World once again, and the culprits belong to Pakistan. It is not the first time that the Pakistani Cricketers are found guilty and it will not be the last time,' I am Afraid'. Nearly half of the Pakistani Cricketers, on the England tour at present, had been accused of fixing in the past. The PCB's working and their leniency is also a threat to their own cricket and to the World Cricket too. But the cause of concern is that the rate of such incidents had increased in the recent past and the accused ones are from Pakistan. The recent incident of ‘SPOT FIXING’ is another proof of this. Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt (Captain Pakistan’s Test Side), Kamran Akmal(Accused Earlier also) are the latest to be accused. The whole incident has been such a cinematic scene that the news channels also do not want to waste a single opportunity to mint anything helping their cause.
Pakistan, a giant nursery of Fast Bowlers, is facing some of its worst days. The international cricket has not happened there for a long time. The internal matters of the country also are not favouring their cricket. Also what can be expected of a country having its President suspect of murder. Pakistani President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari had been accused of serious corruption cases, in which he is a prime suspect for 15 Billion Dollar Scam and also a suspect in the murder of his close relative. The Pakistani Cricketers have never been ‘Gentlemen of the Game’.
Well, it is very true to say that there are Players from other countries too, who faced some critical fixing cases. Not going too far if we see our own cricket then we will found players like Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma and Nayan Mongia who losttheir carrier, but none of them ever agreed to what they have done. There are foreigners also who have been accusd of fixing. In the Year 2000, the cricketing world was shocked when the Delhi police revealed a conversation between a bookie and South Africa's captain Hansie Cronje. The fallout resulted in Cronje, Pakistan's Salim Malik. Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were also banned in that incident. The West Indian player Samuel’s case is not too old.
But in one way or the other the connection of these incidents are always found to be connected with India. India, where the people are mad about their cricket and the BCCI being the highest and the richest body in this field, can be seen as the Global Cricket Center. After Karachi and Johansburg, Mumbai has also become a center for Bookers.
But, the reason for all this happening is the too much exposure of the player in a very short time. The players from West Indies and Pakistan, mostly belong to the middle class or the lower middle class backgrounds and when they get too much exposure they become helpless handling that and fall a pray to the Bookers. Also these Countries do not have a capable Board to pay the cricketers heavily. As a result, they try to mint something at their own level and suffer a jolt to their own carrier. Their inexperience also goes against them. ‘According to the stats, a player playing the IPL mints that much money, a Pakistani earns in a DECADE’. The IPL and the T20 have brought commercialisation in Cricket and the players expectations from their board have also increased and when they do not get the favourable result from the board they are left with no other option but to cheer up the bookers.
The IPL is a major source which can help in eradicating this menace from cricket, but mind you it can also amplify its impact too. All, the Boards should keep a strict eye on every single player of its and the Manager and the Captain should be having such a character that sets a respect in their colleges soul. There Captain should be such that players should think twice about his reaction before doing such a crime to their own people.
Best of luck to the Gentleman’s Game for its Future!


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