Spot-fixing: Underbelly of cricket can erode fans' fanatic trust in the game

Indian protestors beat a burning effigy of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President N. Srinivasan during a demonstration in Kolkata on May 26, 2013. The son-in-law of India’s cricket board chief N. Srinivasan, has been suspended from ‘any involvement’ in the sport pending an inquiry into his role in a spot-fixing scandal, officials said.

Cricket as a religion in India is the most obvious statement anyone can make. The sport and the players are revered through the length and breadth of this country. It is perhaps the only thing that unites the entire country and brings things to a virtual halt apart from politics. But that is a story for another day.

Anyone and everyone, young or old, male or female has an outlook on the game. Housewives give opinions on Sachin’s batting style, young toddlers comment on every decision taken by Dhoni. It is not just a sport, it is the heartbeat of every Indian.

Each and every kid desires to be the next Rahul Dravid or Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There is nothing that can dampen the spirit that cricket holds in heart of every Indian.

On 16th May, 2013, true to the Albert Einstein quote of “three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed”, the IPL (Indian Premier League) met its biggest controversy. Three Rajasthan Royals cricketers, namely, Ajit Chandila, Ankit Chavan and S. Sreesanth, were arrested on charges of spot fixing.

This was initially greeted with shock, which soon turned to revulsion and then resentment by fans and players alike. The charges levied on them were based on evidence gathered by the Delhi police. The entire cricket fraternity was in a state of shock. What was even more shocking for the cricketers and fans alike was the ease with which it was carried out.

The tainted trio were told to give ‘signals’ before they bowled. Each one of them had a unique way of giving a signal. Ankeet Chavan swirled his chain in and around the air, S.Sreesanth put a towel on his side pocket before the act. Ajit Chandila forgot to give his signal and lost out on a portion of his money. The players were arrested and taken into police custody. There had always been a cloud of match fixing over the sport but it had never really shown its wicked face in such an obvious way.

But the shame for the sport did not end there. The BCCI was now left to face the embarrassment of having yet again been unable to avert the tentacles of the underworld reach the cricket field.

Former cricketers voiced their opinions on the IPL being a pot belly for black money. That ensured the ire of cricket fans, who burned posters and shouted slogans, calling for a stop to all of this.

No one was spared. Bureaucrats, celebrities, ex-cricketers were all under the microscope. Even Indian captain MS Dhoni and new sensation Virat Kohli were believed to have been involved in this. It had started to become ugly.

Sreesanth (in blue)

The initial days after their arrest unfolded predictably as they followed the same pattern as any criminal case: appearance before a metropolitan magistrate, grant of police custody and extension of the custody.

But this incident had a huge impact on the image of cricket as a whole. Every cricketer was now being looked at through a microscopic lens and the public had begun to lose faith in the sport. Respected and celebrated players like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were made to come out and give their backing to Indian cricket.

Rahul Dravid in particular, who is the captain of Rajasthan Royals, was ashamed to have led the trio out onto the field for the preceding matches. Sreesanth, a player who always had the full backing of Sourav Ganguly despite being unpopular in certain sections of the media and the selection committee for his chronic gross misconducts on the field, had let the belief of his captain down.

The spot fixing was restricted not only to the players. Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh and more notably Gurunath Meiyappan – son-in-law of BCCI chief N Srinivasan and former team principal of Chennai Super Kings, were taken into custody for involvement in this racket. There were vast packages of cash involved and everyone wanted to get a share of the pie.

The problem to all of this lies deep down in our cricketing system. The earnings for a player at a domestic level are virtually loose change in contrast to those at the international level. This leads to a sticky situation which the bookies try and exploit. Players try making a quick buck.

That is even more so in the IPL, where one player earns around Rs. 8-9 crore and the guy sitting next to him gets a meagre Rs. 15-20 lakh.

Also at fault here is the BCCI for carrying out its work at a slow meandering pace like “a walk of a drunken man”. The BCCI should advise the players at all levels and embolden them to step forward whenever they hear of such malpractices. This way, players and the BCCI can keep track of things if anyone is doing anything wrong, and take steps to stop the malaise.

Many times when a player is approached, he feels that if he goes forward and informs the BCCI, his name might get sullied with the match fixing saga and he would risk being blacklisted from the Indian team. The BCCI should have an open door policy where players are encouraged to come forward without any hesitation.

But aside from the shame brought upon the players and their teams and the damage of finances for cricket bodies, the biggest bearing for the sport is the loss of trust among the lovers of the sport. Time and time again, fans have backed their players and teams over every match fixing or spot fixing obstacle, but as Winston Churchill said, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is”. Fans may soon run out of patience and lose trust in their idols. The thought of imagining Indian cricket without the Indian cricket fan is unthinkable.

The Indian cricket fan has always and will always be there for his cricket team. Cowardly acts by certain cricketers are not going to dither their love and passion for the sport. With apologies to Shakespeare, “Cricket cannot wither him nor change in custom stale him infinite variety”.