The dark side of cricket has shown its face. Again\u2026 Just when we had forgotten that it existed. Just as we reveled in how much glory and money a sport can bring \u2013 through masala version of the game \u2013 we had forgotten that betting existed. And so did match fixing. Oops, it\u2019s called \u2018spot fixing\u2019 now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few cricketers, including once India\u2019s fast bowling hope Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, were nabbed by police when they were with \u2018arranged\u2019 women \u2013 allegedly supplied by bookies who offered them money to perform according to their wishes in an official IPL (Indian Premier League) match \u2013 for spot fixing. A sad day for cricket enthusiasts, no matter what nationality you have\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, neither is this the first instance of \u2018fixing\u2019 in the sport, nor will it be the last one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first ever cricket match to be fixed \u2013 according to records \u2013 was in 1817, almost two centuries ago. Interestingly, the incident happened at what we know as Mecca or Cricket \u2013 the Lord\u2019s Cricket Ground \u2013 where the first instance of \u2018fixing\u2019 was staged. William Lambert \u2013 the first man in cricket history to score a hundred in each innings \u2013 was banned after being charged with \u2018trying less hard\u2019 for England against Notts. The reason behind the charge and the accuracy of the verdict is not the point to be discussed here. But, the point is that \u2018fixing\u2019 is an old issue and IPL is not responsible for it. It is greed of money and betrayal of sportsmanship that causes fixing. Not many cricket fans have forgotten Hansie Cronje \u2013 now dead \u2013 who became the most infamous villain for South Africa from being their national hero once.
The reason for my problems with IPL is not mere fixing. The reason is: It is making cricket vulgar, obscene. At least, for the purists like me. If it was real cricket, one would not mind money flowing in the game like water in the Niagra Falls. But it is crass commerce, with corporate houses throwing in millions of dollars for their own branding and television cameras zooming in on everyone just to increase channel\u2019s TRP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How else do you explain 40-plus year olds playing the most intense format of the game, especially when they just play cricket 45-days-a-year? It is purely for marketing sake, as these players draw crowds in thousands and make commentators speak hyperbole at the top of their voices. To someone who understands cricket, you don\u2019t need to scream, stress on every word in the sentence, using every possible adjective that the English language has to offer. That too, just to describe an ordinary shot, or a wicket or a single\u2026 Sometimes you wonder whether they need a microphone or not, looking at the decibel level of their voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How else do you explain lines like \u201cThis is a green pitch, but not very green\u201d or \u201cVery athletic Dale Steyn, has a good arm to throw\u201d. Tell me one great fast bowler who hasn\u2019t been athletic. It\u2019s akin to saying a gold medalist in 100 meters can run \u2018very fast\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How else do you explain 19 year olds and others, fitted with earpieces and microphones, talking to commentators \u2018on air\u2019? How does it help their cricketing skills, their focus in the match? In a frenzy called IPL, we forget that the youngsters are kept in team so that they could learn, and grow up to become mature cricketers in future.
I\u2019ve met some journalists who\u2019re into betting on IPL matches (Yes, Nepali nationals), through bookies. One quipped, \u201cIt\u2019s good that IPL is being staged when our salaries don\u2019t come on time.\u201d But that\u2019s only about journalists, the smarter lot, those who calculate and put money on teams judiciously (at least some of them)\u2026 What about the fans, who bet on their fav teams, often emotionally. Emotion doesn\u2019t have logic, often a route to waste money. If emotions can lure fans into making money, why wouldn\u2019t it draw cricketers to the luxury? As said earlier, it\u2019s greed that spoils things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You get sad, whether or not you\u2019re a purist, when the game is coming into disrepute. A non-cricket-sports-fan asked me, \u201cWhat is wrong with this game?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d take this opportunity to reply. There\u2019s nothing wrong with the game, only with the people who choose to milk the sport, extract money from it, and have no love for the game. Sadly, the lines are synonymous with most cricket administrators across the globe. In Nepal, in India, or anywhere\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS: This write-up appeared in yours truly\u2019s weekly column in The Kathmandu Post \u2013 OFFSIDE \u2013 on 18th May, 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The dark side of cricket has shown its face. Again\u2026 Just when we had forgotten that it existed. Just as we reveled in how much glory and money a sport can bring \u2013 through masala version of the game \u2013 we had forgotten that betting existed. And so did match fixing. Oops, it\u2019s called \u2018spot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":522,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions\/522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}