Spot-fixing raises the question of credibility in cricket

“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.”

It began as a gentleman’s game. Contrary to a popular belief, there’s a theory that it was not initiated by men but conjured by the fairer sex, nurtured by her soft touch, until when chance came it ensnared a new bearer. The stronger sex took over and ever since then some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth.

And now the game seems to have compromised on its most quintessential element – righteousness, what started as a pure affair of talent and gamesmanship seems to have left behind all these elements in its trace. Morality or modesty counts for little in this new cash pouring environment where your worth is decided by number of endorsements in your pocket. We call a certain Kohli as the heir to Sachin’s throne when a single ‘cheater’ chant from the crowd manages to rub him the wrong way.

Remember that Virat has to fill the shoes of a certain someone who was booed by his home crowd, in a ground where he made the transition to a man from a boy, and still did not react in the slightest of ways possible because he understood that he had a bigger purpose.

I am not blaming the new, raw cricket fans because they have never had the privilege of growing in an era where players like Gilchrist and Dravid earned respect from the opposition for their sportsmanship and conduct and not just for their exploits on the field. We are the fortunate and grateful ones who have been raised perhaps in what might arguably be the last period when humbleness was accommodated in this sport.

Probably this is the reason why the news of three cricketers arrested for alleged involvement in spot-fixing did not shock me at all. The kind of product that cricket is selling at the moment leaves a lot of room for shady transactions, and its vulnerability is further exacerbated with people having questionable morality taking up the sport. In a country which is relentlessly breathing in a foul air of scams, where money is continuously flowing illegally into deep pockets to feed the monster of corruption, there is barely an avenue as lucrative as cricket to deal in.

A sport which finds spectators in all sections, transcending boundaries of economic wellness and health index, is the ideal ground for scam dealers. Let us not let the current tide determine the flow, let not the current scenario stymie the advent of young, talented and honest youngsters; let us draw a line between making the best of chances thrown your way and chicanery and opportunism.

A major clean-up operation beckons, the cries of a loyal and ardent worshipper can be heard far off, and the royal fabric of the game needs strengthening. Let’s not turn a blind eye towards this fiasco like the unruly officials who have corrupted the game to its core. Beyond the obvious lie reasons that are occult.