So many things have happened.
Three Rajasthan Royals players have been arrested for fraud.
Eleven bookies have also been arrested.
The Delhi Police, who have been investigating this shadiness for more than a month, have revealed some of the nitty-gritties.
The BCCI has issued a press release.
The BCCI president (who is also an IPL team owner) has addressed a press conference.
Sreesanth’s father, mother and brother-in-law have come to his defence with all-kinds of conspiracy theories.
Sreesanth’s father has apologized for his theory.
Rahul Dravid, who captains Rajasthan Royals, is “devastated”.
And so on…
Firstly, hats off to the Delhi Police. They were there in 2000 (when many didn’t even have a clue) and they have continued to keep their eyes peeled for such muck. May they rid the game of many more rotten elements.
Secondly, good on the BCCI to have swiftly suspended the players. And it was interesting to see N Srinivasan sound anguished (instead of acting as if this was a case that was blown out of proportion).
But here are some questions for Mr. Srinivasan:
1 It’s taken a media channel (in 2012) and the Delhi police (in 2013) to bring the shadiness to light. What has the BCCI’s role been in this? Have they made any serious attempt to pro-actively weed out the links between cricketers and bookies? What are the concrete steps they have taken?
2 When asked about this, Srinivasan said: “We have an anti-corruption code, an anti-doping code. We have advised state units to take steps.”
(What kind of advice, Mr Srinivasan? What structure have you set in place to ensure that a young cricketer – who is being exposed to big money for the first time in his life – doesn’t fall into the trap of bookies and fixers? Is there a cricketer or administrator who is heading a nation-wide awareness program? Is there a mentoring program in place – in any state – at the junior levels? Do cricketers know how to handle agents who approach them? Do agents have any process of registration or can any tom, dick and bookie stand outside a team hotel and proposition cricketers?)
3 He also said: “We have to examine and see objectively what else we can do, what further steps we can take, and how we can demonstrate that this sort of action doesn’t pay at all. There’s a lot of work for us to do.”
He added: “We thought when we made an example last year that the message was clear and people would not indulge in such things.”
(What were the steps taken between the fifth season – when five cricketers were caught in a sting operation – and now? Can you list out the concrete ways in which the BCCI acted? And why should we make all this public, you ask. Well, you need to make it public because it dictates the integrity of the league. If you expect us to tune in every evening, then transparency is the least you could give us.
Which brings me to a larger point: this is not an isolated case. Three players have been caught. Many others may have got away. This is not a case of “a few rotten apples”; instead it’s a “tip of the iceberg”. The more you internalize that, the easier it is to attack this issue.
Also: the league’s integrity has taken a massive hit in the last four years – conflict of interest and arm-twisting over team ownership in 2010, fixing in 2012, fixing in 2013 – yet you wear multiple hats and refuse to send a clear message that you want to run a clean league? Doesn’t it strike you that owning an IPL team and running the BCCI and sitting on the IPL governing council and heading the Tamil Nadu cricket association is clearly not the best way to “root out” corruption?)
4 Srinivasan also said he and the rest of the BCCI were shocked by the news. “This is a bolt from the blue,” he said.
(Really? Where have you guys been living, exactly?)
Now to the heartbreak:
On December 3, 2001 Sreesanth missed college to watch Tinu Yohannan become the first player from Kerala to play international cricket. A year later he made his Ranji debut. At the end of his first season he was in the Duleep Trophy side. A steady rise followed – frustrating injuries notwithstanding – and his big break came during the Challenger Trophy of 2005 when he claimed seven wickets from three games, including getting Tendulkar lbw, and finished as the Man of the Series.
All this matters. Sreesanth was, in many ways, a torchbearer. Like Dhoni (from Ranchi), Zaheer (from Shrirampur), Harbhajan (from Jallandhar) and Munaf (from Ikhar), Sreesanth showed that it was possible to begin in a cricketing backwater, work your way through the system, and still reach the top. You didn’t necessarily have to move from a small town to a big city to make it. You could play for Kerala and (unlike in the days when Balan Pandit and KN Ananthapadmanabhan toiled without reward) you could be noticed.
Ajit Chandila was born in Faridabad. Cricinfo tells us that in the “seven years since his Haryana debut, he barely got a handful of games and was more active on the club circuit, playing for nondescript clubs like Hari Singh Cricket Academy in Ghaziabad.”
He made a name for himself with a hat-trick in last year’s IPL. He dismissed Tendulkar and Ponting in the same match this season and said that the feat was “bigger than the hat-trick”.
His story is also important. It told you that gone were the days when a cricketer was at the mercy of his state association to hand him a platform. Now he had another avenue to showcase his skill. He could play for nondescript clubs in nondescript parts of the country and yet get a chance to dismiss Pondulkar in the same match. There is a fairytale quality to this. Young cricketers around the country could take note. They could follow Chandila’s example. They could dream.
The irony was hard to miss. Sreesanth, Chavan, and Chandila played for a side captained by Rahul Dravid. Now Dravid is a fine batsman and all that, but his finest quality – as with Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Kumble, Srinath and many others – is his integrity. This was a bunch that lifted India from the match-fixing morass of 2000. This was the bunch that, back in 2000 and 2001, reassured the disillusioned Indian fan that it was possible to play the game with your hands clean.
Here’s Rahul Bhattacharya writing in this year’s Wisden Almanack:
Valour was scarce in the times we refer to. To understand Indian cricket at the turn of the century, consider the sequence: clean-swept in Australia, clean-swept at home by South Africa, the resignation of a deflated captain (Sachin Tendulkar), the naming of the previous captain (Mohammad Azharuddin) and several players in a match-fixing scandal. To passionate fans, cricket felt desperate; to others, it felt wholly discredited.
Then a sparkling passage, describing Kolkata 2001, that ends with two sentences that will resonate with every Indian cricket fan:
India won the [Kolkata] Test, magically, then the series. If a virtue of sport is to make a people cast aside their troubles, not by fantasy but aspiration, here it was.
When Dravid addressed that press conference (painfully emitting words like distressed and disheartened) he wasn’t just speaking for himself. He was speaking for a large bunch of cricketers who showed us the power of integrity. Sure, they lifted India with bat and ball, but they also reignited passions by staying true to their word.
Sreesanth, Chandila, and Chavan had a golden chance to accept the baton. Here was their chance to inspire cricketers from the boondocks to the limelight. Here was their chance to get young boys and girls to dream – “not by fantasy but aspiration”.
But no. That’s too hard. To slog your backside off conscientiously is too passé. It’s too old-school. Instead they allegedly chose the easier route. And, if the Delhi police are to be believed, blew it.
Raman Sundar, the IPL CEO, summed it up with one tweet: #idiots.
__________ 
Excellent article Sid…echoes a lot of my opinions too…It had to happen to mr. team man Rahul…At the beginning of this season Rahul in fact backed Sree and was on his side… Was sad to watch someone as smart and articulate as RD read a prepared statement on this topic today…the man must be gutted…Feel sorry for the great man …Sree…#idiot is an understatement !
good read.
On the other hand , for a bowler to decide on giving for ex.14 runs an over..it isn’t an easy task too..if you give up too many in the first half of the over, you are forced to bowl good balls in the last 3 balls…so the fact is the bowlers in question clearly have the skill to bowl those good balls..but just got #soldout…like what Cronje said, his leather jacket enticed him to do the unthinkable…Sad day man !!
That’s what is confusing after all this. What is the guarantee that this was an isolated case? What about the thousands of other deliveries that he bowled before? Raises so many questions.
Brings back memories of *that* no-ball he bowled in England, it appeared to be out of anger back then and probably was just that, but now who can say?
Another question I have is the timing of the arrests… sure it embarrasses the BCCI _during_ the IPL (and Srinivasan has made a point of saying it was a bolt from the blue… hmm…), but they must’ve been really confident that they’d found every possible guilty party from 50 taped conversations… the credibility of the league has been tested, but could it have been worse? These are questions that will linger.
Oh yes. That was huge. And he also bowled a beamer in the same innings. He was doing some crazy things that day – which led me to write this http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/305180.html
I think it could have been worse. Many questions linger.
Now I understand .. Agarkar must have been taking bribes every match.
I understood it as to give a minimum of 14 runs – not exactly 14 runs. That might not be too tough – can be achieved by some rank bad balls and made up by a couple of no-balls at the end of the over. Not much skill needed for that.
As always a superb article.
A correction for the links though. Links to apology by sreesanth’s father and rahul dravid devastated .. both yields to same article.
Changed! Thanks.
With that immaculate seam position, I thought Sreesanth would easily get 300 test wickets. There sure were some sparks, his performance in Antigua and Jamaica where he helped India win first test series victory in Caribbean. Then Johannesberg. I thought he sure was on his way to 300 wickets and helping India many test matches on the course.
It was unfortunate that he had to battle injuries after that, but when he came back, he started reversing too. I still thought he had it in him to get at least 200 wickets. Now he’s screwed up. He will have to halt his journey at 87 wickets. Not a penny more.
Very sobering article Sid. Thanks for your insight as always. N Srinivasan says IPL is not untenable. I assume this will be his stand even if the players are proved guilty. If that eventually happens to be the unfortunate case, we only need to look at the standings of the teams. The games Sreesanth and Chandila are accused to have fixed, RR eventually won. The game that Chavan is alleged to have fixed (he gave away 15 runs that over), MI won the game by 14 runs. 1. How is this spot fixing? 1 over in a T20 game is 5% of the team’s innings and in this case, his over did eventually have an impact on the game. 2. MI winning put them on top of the table and put RR at the 3rd spot. This directly has an impact on the laugh worthy concept of qualifier and eliminators. This has impacted IPL6 in the most direct possible way? What is N Srini faffing?
Agree. Every ball can decide a match. And almost every match is crucial for the play-offs. So yes, it’s not as if he conceded 14 in a dead-rubber. The whole league is impacted.
What beats me again is someone like Harsha Bhogle saying we need a disctinction between spot fixing and match fixing since none of the 3 players accused impacted the result of the games they are accused to have fixed. What is evident to me, a layman fan, slips the eyes of these so called Pundits or are they in denial? Either ways, they lose credibility.
Forget Dravid. Forget the match fixing of 2000. Remember Jo’burg & Kanpur. You have to be special to bowl like that. What an absolute waste of talent! Of course, one could argue, he had already set himself up on the path to destruction. Having someone like Dhoni who had no time for anyone’s idiosyncrasies didn’t help either. He was fast becoming part of a list that includes Kambli, Siva, Sandeep Patil, Ramesh. He’s moved straight off to another list notorious list now. Sad.
Hi Sid, you have the gift of putting disturbing events in a levelheaded and calm manner. Also, thought provoking 🙂
First of all, thanks for stating clearly that this is more like ‘tip of the iceberg’ than an isolated incident. Because you can’t wait for 100 such instances to surface to establish this as a trend than anomaly.
w.r.t Srinivasan’s comments, having a ‘code’ alone is not sufficient. There has to be a body with actual people in it that monitors such things on a routine basis. That might enable BCCI to uncover such incidents as opposed to media outlets. I hope they have one, even if it is not the best. Also, the previous incident Srinivasan stated was uncovered by a TV sting operation and not by BCCI itself, if I recall correctly.
Conflict of interest is probably a huge factor in all of this. This is not to insinuate that Srinivasan is responsible for corruption and that he might be even behind some of these things to benefit monetarily, but a single person overseeing so many things in addition to cementing himself as a major industrialist (#selfthoo for the pun) will only make it harder for him to monitor things closely in every organization he’s heading.
I’m also glad that you mentioned Sreesanth’s journey (didn’t know this before). It is easy to ridicule ‘rich, arrogant, immoral, cultureless cricketers who party with cheerleaders’ (myself included on many occasions) but it is worthwhile to point out their history and realizing that the money part of it was not there for the majority of their lives. And therefore it makes a lot of sense to have a mentor program.
Hopefully, young and upcoming cricketers from small towns (or anywhere for that matter) learn something from this incident.
On a side note, I’d like to know what happens to the money they received for the fixing. While suspending them might sound like a just punishment, but I guess if you also address the very object that lured them into the bait (money) is also taken away from them to a certain extent, it might help nail the message loud and clear. If the player can sell his/her integrity for money, why shouldn’t they pay up a bit to gain some of that respect/integrity back (loosely put). I guess for some people, throwing money at problems takes precedence over things like decency, integrity and pride.
Ajit.
Thanks Ajit. Fine point re the money. I really don’t know what happens with the money. I am assuming their accounts will be seized (since all the money is black anyway) but it will definitely help if a message is sent loud and clear.
I have a question about this whole episode..
Why are we expecting cricketers to be at a higher moral standard with the society that we have? When there are so many scandals from politicians, police, media etc who are supposed to be more responsible in the society, isn’t it silly to expect cricketers to only work hard and be honest all the time? What example is the rest of society setting up for cricketers to follow?
Every profession has few bad apples and it appears that cricket has lot less compared to other professions in India.. In that case, what is need for all this anguish?
Spot on bro.
Agree with you to an extent. We are nobody to take a moral high ground. And sure, the rest of society is messed up in various ways. But it would be facile to ignore this whole episode (as if these were only a few bad apples that ruin a sport) and move on. Instead it’s clear that there is a deep-rooted problem which needs to be resolved. Also anguish is not something that can be easily rationalized. If a dear friend dies tomorrow, I will not immediately say ‘Oh, everyone must die at some point’ and move on. It needs a bit of introspection.
The most disturbing thing about this is Sreesanth’s involvement. He earns upwards of $800,000 a year playing in the IPL and he has been seemingly willing to jeopardize that income, along with his BCCI income and risk jail in order to make that extra $70,000-80,000. That suggests a strong lack of fear of getting caught. That in itself should worry everyone.
While it was TP Sudhindra in an Indore league game, we could console ourselves because it was a small local game, seemingly meaningless in the larger scheme of things. We could let it go because TP Sudhindra was a small time player looking to make a quick buck. But this, is different. A test cricketer being involved despite being well paid and decently looked after. Words fail me as to how worried that makes me feel.
Anyway, let’s wait for the case to come up and evidence to be presented, since so far, everything displayed by the cops has been highly circumstantial. But I hope the BCCI really make an example of these guys. They shouldn’t end up like Ajay Jadeja, warming the couch on pre-match shows.
True Jazz. Which brings me to the point – was this player doing this only when he was earning $800,000? Or was this a habit he cultivated much earlier (when he was earning far, far less). These are habits that are hard to kick once you’re sucked in, methinks.
Or Sidvee, is there a bigger thing to be unearthed?.. are they being forced to do this.. It may be possible that Money is not the only reason, but there is something else!
Excellent piece, Sidvee. If the 2000 scandal scarred me, yesterday I was just rubbernecking. Given the path the IPL was taking, something like this was bound to happen. It’s terribly sad, though, that players from the smaller towns couldn’t be inspirational figures (somehow reminds me of this tragic story http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/unhealed-wounds?page=0,0).
I want to make three points:
1) Ultimately, the players are responsible for resisting illegal temptation, but it’s the BCCI’s role to minimize the amount of temptation on offer.
2) Srinivasan’s interview yesterday contains no details on the steps the BCCI has taken towards this goal. Such inaction and opacity has become commonplace for the BCCI because of one unshakeable fact: they know that the fans will continue to watch irrespective of how outrageously they behave on any number of issues.
It isn’t as though the BCCI shenanigans have escaped our attention. Plenty of criticism is directed at the BCCI in op-ed pieces but nothing has changed fundamentally. However, this time is different: the integrity of the goose that lays golden eggs is threatened. It remains to be seen whether this will waken the BCCI from its stupor, but it’s clear that only such seismic events, which threaten the fan’s connection with the game, have any chance of making the BCCI act.
3) It seems, therefore, that the only hope for good regulation from the BCCI lies in exposing all the skullduggery in great specificity. It would help if respected voices on the inside participated in such an effort (or at least stopped cheerleading) but this has little chance of happening. The cricket media, I think, can exert far more pressure than it currently does. Very little of the cricket reporting (the written form is what I have in mind) I see falls under the category of “Public interest reporting” or “investigative journalism”. To give one example, we see two short pieces on Arjun Tendulkar with little context, when we need a long piece on the politics of under-age cricket. Everyone believes that the state associations don’t function properly. But, what exactly is the problem with them and why don’t we see more scandals unearthed? Is the NCA doing what it’s supposed to do? Are there deeper questions that an average fan like me isn’t even aware of?
Here’s Remnick (http://allthingsd.com/20120217/new-yorker-editor-david-remnick-likes-technology-but-he-loves-print-the-full-dive-into-media-interview/ around 28 min mark): “I grew up not far from Newark. Every mayor of Newark, every single one of them, until the present one, went to jail. Now how did that happen? A large part of how it happened is pressure on power from the local newspaper. For all the things the press can do: entertain, distribute information, be funny, the most important thing is pressure on power. Without that, journalism is not worth its name.”
I know that India is not Newark and there are no guarantees that pressure from the press will change the BCCI at all. Maybe our connections to cricket won’t be broken, we might still continue to watch and maybe the BCCI will continue along on its merry way. But such pressure, from the press or the law-enforcement agencies, that threatens to destroy the fans’ connection, seems to be the only hope of getting the BCCI to act in meaningful ways. That’s the terrible situation we are in.
Fine points all, Sriram. And totally agree re ‘Public Interest’ reporting. My biggest concern has been about journalists not ‘following up’ on stories. So here’s the classic cycle of a story – news breaks, reactions are put up, a comment is written-up … and three days later … another news breaks etc etc. Now that is understandable – happens everywhere. But what often goes missing is the follow-up – a month or two later, nobody goes back to the original story and sees how things have evolved. It is not so much about the length or depth of the stories that matter IMO – as much as constant hammering at the head of the nail. Here’s a classic case – India lost 8-0 in Eng and Aus. The BCCI sec Sanjay Jagdale gave a long interview to the Hindu about the lessons learned and what they plan to do. Now (more than a year later) someone needs to go back to that interview and follow up on what he said. And then they need to hound him and find out why x,y,z wasn’t done. That is the only way to demand accountability IMO. And that has sadly gone missing.
(Thanks for the Remnick link)
Sid..
Off Topic but broadly on the theme…
The thought occurred at that moment but… it gains a ominous overtone now….. What about the no ball bowled by RP Singh in that game against CSK @ Chennai… That event was Md.Aamirisque in the enormity of the no ball and sure as hell the result changed because of that….Hopefully somebody investigates that as well
It’s unfair on RP if we keep dragging him into this, no? Sure it must be investigated but innocent until found guilty.
Thats exactly I thought when we were seeing the match live at home.. but after the events of last few days.. the cynic in me takes over and starts this.. hopefully that was a honest mistake trying to bowl a quicker delivery…hopefully…
There’s definitely an element of greed in these players agreeing to spot-fix. But is there also an element of fear? This is (ultimately) the underworld we’re talking about. In previous cases as well, there have been hints that the players have been threatened to comply with the bookies’ demands. Sure, they’re paid off as well. But do they really make a ‘free’ choice just out of greed?
The first instance is mostly greed (I think). It’s when you’re trapped that fear takes hold.
I find it hard to believe that a 40k crore business (as HT and Times Now claim) is dependent only on 3 players, all of them in one team. If I had a 40k crore business (yes yes, pigs are flying and all that), I would not limit my reach to so little. I also, would know that in order to not get caught I would have to grease the hands of, well, for the lack of a better term, the entire value chain.
I also, found it surprising that that only 3 players were investigated and the police cannot confidently tell that the other teams/players are not involved. I would rather have a full scale investigation and caught everybody involved. The only reason, I can think of, that this didn’t happen is either the cops didn’t want to go further or couldn’t.
Obviously, the spotfixing thing is very disappointing, distressing and disheartening, but so is the investigation. But, then, we’ve come to expect that in India
It’s shady indeed. My hunch is that quite a few more have gotten away. But at least I’m glad they caught these three (that too accidentally).
Srinivasan’s comments are in with the times.. To prevent rape, we have a law or going to get one… To avoid hunger we will have a law. To give better education we will have a law. Similarly Srinivasan reasons..
As you rightly said Sid, the integrity of Saurav, Sachin, Dravid, Srinath, VVS and Kumble got us out from the heights of dispair and distrust. Maybe it healed us too soon. We forgot or forgave the sinners too soon… It is nauseating to say the least that Azhar is an MP, Jadeja is an expert in news channels and played first class cricket for Rajasthan.
Agree. Laws must be strong enough to instil fear. And yes, I hope we don’t go the Azhar, Jadeja way in this case. That turned into a real sham.
Sick article man. Brilliant writing mate.
Saw the funniest thing today..A.Jadeja talking about moral ethics etc on why one should not get lured into spot-fixing…I was like…Deiiiiiii
As stakeholders in the game we can probably use a bit of reverse logic in trying to identify other players who might be part of the ring. Lets take a close look at all 5 wides. As anyone who has played cricket even at school level it is very difficult to bowl 5 wides. Also look at no balls which are a foot outside. These guys should definitely not be doing that. These guys are all capable of bowling properly in their sleep. Full tosses. I know they might be trying Yorkers but they are just too many. We can probably start a “funny spot fix” and list these events there. These players have taken the fan for granted. For a change let us give back the pain even if it is .1%. I know even the genuine ones will be impacted but since they know they are clean they should not find that as an issue. But the truly rotten ones will probably know that they are being watched though in a funny way. I think we need to relieve Delhi police of these small things. They have bigger things to take care, ones where lives are involved.
How do you know this is the tip of the iceberg? Do you have more information than we do and Srinivasan does? Coming to Srinivasan, isn’t he being investigated by the CBI for alleged improper business transactions wih Jagan Reddy? Didn’t the CBI rad him recently along with Stalin and a few others for alleged duty evasion in the importation of motor cars? How can such a mam cleanse cricket?
I don’t have any extra info (apart from some off-the-record stuff which I hear from time to time). I am just saying that unless they approach this whole thing as ‘tip of the iceberg’ rather than ‘a few rotten apples’, the issue is never going to go away. And yes, mama doesn’t have the credibility.
Thanks. Sorry for the typos. Mam should read man and rad raid.
The whole IPL circus is nauseating: the cheerleaders, Bollywood stars, the Ambani family et al. Worst of all are commentators (Harsha Bogle included) cavorting to the vulgar Extra Innings jingle.
Great points. The cynic in me says this:
1. Court proceedings will not succeed as it is important to trace the money. Without that, there will be no case. In News of the World, I think they were able to.
2. BCCI will ban these players and claim that this is an isolated incident. Worse still, credit themselves for decision action.
3. Things will continue as before for everyone.
With corruption at every level in BCCI, they cannot afford to earnestly clean this as many will get caught in related things. Pls. remember what was said about Lalit Modi but no follow up from BCCI after that. Too many skeletons in too many cupboards.
As close as it gets to ground realities especially for people who have come from small towns.
I think the richest board in the world is busy filling their own pockets rather than having an organised set of rules which are meant specifically for do’s and dont’s for young cricket players .(bookies/social behaviour..etc).
This was an excellent opportunity to show the world that we as a country have evolved and have robust rules and guidelines to nourish a sport which is a religion in the country.
“God save sport in this country”.
On another note, astonished that a chucker like Chandila got this far. At the least his action should have been referred for remediation. Anyway it matters no more I suppose.
Iam surprised that no one cares to comment that criminals like Azharuddin and Jadeja are allowed to go scot free and prosper and then expect others to follow high moral grounds.We have brought this upon ourselves , no point in putting blame on youngsters.
I hope the whole system is re-looked. And all stakeholders ask themselves “what all is wrong” and “what all should be done”. We hear the auction is to be held next year. Now! Seriously! Why again? Is it because the auction grabs eyeballs and is a launchpad for the IPL publicity stunt? Then comes the lunatic team owners. Seriously lunatic! RCB’s 13 fast medium bowlers explains this.And they end up paying USD 1.6m for Saurabh Tiwary. Now nothing wrong on Tiwary’s part and my apologies for using him as an example. You pay someone USD 1.6m for his “potential” and half the players in the league end up as better performers! What do we have then? A perfect platform for all nefarious agents to spin webs of malice in our cricketers minds. Does a single India cap earned put certain players in line for far more riches than accomplished domestic performers or “T20 specialists”?
This whole concept of the auction has to be revisited. Maybe we can have sealed bids. Or better (my suggestion) have domestic players represent their catchment area and international players through a sealed bid. If Delhi will emerge stronger with Gauti, Virat and Sehwag, so be it. They deserve to be for producing these cricketers. Aren’t they? If Chennai will lose their strength, so be it.
Cricket corruption in India will continue as long as betting is illegal. You don’t achieve anything by banning sports betting other than drive it underground, into the cesspool where the nefarious bookies and the underworld mafia of match-fixers exist.
Sid,Wanted to ask u a question. What do u think should be their punishment? Do u think they deserve a second chance , after serving some time out, as everyone in life makes a mistake ? Or they should be banned for life, as this mistake is too big to be forgiven, and if they r allowed to go walk free, after serving a certain amount of a time out ban, this will only encourage others to indulge in spotfixing as the punishment wont be harsh?
Hi Sandeep,
If found guilty, I don’t think they should play professional cricket (at any level) again. Sure, life offers second chances – and they can go on to redeem themselves in other ways. But to allow them to return to cricket would only tell a few others that ‘you can still get away’.
Good questions, Sandeep. I too have benn grappling with the issue of punishment. Everyone is baying for the players’ blood. But these are young men whose life is ruined. They need compassion and rehabilitation as much as punishment.
Very sad to see Indian cricket come to this. The blame doesn’t belong to the three cricketers alone. The large numbers of cricketers, commentators, journalists, administrators past and present who have thrived off of this strutting monstrosity called IPL are equally culpable. If IPL is not shut down, the cancer will spread to international Indian cricket. This time there will be no Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly to rescue it.