The Ugly side of IPL has cast it’s Shadow yet again with the arrests this morning of Sreesanth and two other teammates of the Rajasthan Royals for Spot Fixing
IPL ~ Close it or Clean it
There’s too much as Stake to kill a Golden Goose ~ the Brand,the Franchise Owners Investments ~ so IPL commentator Harsha Bogle and BCCI President N Srinivasan said closing IPL is not the solution ~ let’s strengthen the Cleaning Process instead and weed out what is bad about the IPL
Really ! Ironically and tongue in cheek Cleaning IPL would reduce the stakes ~ would it not ! ~ and if the Rot begins at the Top,cleaning it would mean Closing down the IPL itself ! ~ ask Mr Unclean himself,ex IPL Commissioner ,Mr Lalit Modi who tweets that he has not created the IPL Monster but the Monster sits in Chennai !
Put the Fear of God in the Players ~ convict those arrested and Jail them says one Expert on TV News Channels
But what about putting the Fear of God into those who administrate the Game ! ~or are they God !?
My Clear Sense is that the Anti Corruption Unit of BCCI should have kept a tab on Bookie and Player Movements ~ how could they not realise that bookies were staying in the same Hotel as the Players in Mumbai ! ?
Another Vocal Panelist, a lawyer who is now a famous activist bluntly stated that the local police are the business partners of the bookies and it is they who give the go ahead to the bookies to go about their business !
A Film Director tweeted that like Horse Racing Betting ,even Betting in Cricket should be legalised ~ does he not realise the huge extent of Fixing that takes place in Horse Racing !
I particular loved one response in the social media that exclaimed what’s the big deal that the player sells an over in spot fixing ! ~ Does not BCCI and IPL sell hundreds of Players in Open Auctions !
If the Delhi Police had conveyed last month itself to the BCCI that they have these players and bookies under wiretap surveillance because they had leads on them,I bet this situation would not have arisen as these players would have been warned by someone ! ~ Deliberately and wisely the Delhi kept it under wraps from even the Anti Corruption Unit of the BCCI lest it leak out ~ It was not a Joint Operation !
Of course Fans are cheated of a fairly fought game ~ seriously one of those who spend thousands to go for any one of the three games in which Spot Fixing has been detected and arrests made ~ namely in Mumbai last night,or Jaipur or Mohali should take BCCI and the Franchise Owners to court accusing them of having failed in their responsibility to curb Spot Fixing and Corruption that resulted in them watching deliberate under performances,rather under-the-table performances in these three matches !
Where there are Obscene Levels of Monies Involved and therefore High Stakes it will quickly breed a Fertile Ground for Corruption and Fixing ~ IPL Cricket is no exception ~ Tennis & Premier Football leagues in the World ~ all have been hugely tainted by Bribery and Corruption and rampant Match fixing and dropping Scandals
Now you must easily guess and realise why top Politicians head State & National Cricketing Bodies !
T-20,in my view, is formatted for sheer entertainment to bring in the crowds and popularize the game to a wider audience ~ the Game was otherwise losing popularity worldwide in often boring 5 day test Matches that ended in Draws and even 50 Overs ODIs that were not as entertaining ~ Speed and Instant Nirvana are the two guiding Mantras ~ we want the big Hitters all the time ! ~ Purists hate this version and as for me I don’t hate it but am simply not enamoured by it as it’s more a Hit Out or Get Out Version and a budding Cricketer cannot truly hone his Cricketing Skills like he can in the traditional version !
Actually My Prayers go out to the Rankha Family in Mumbai ~ they lost their 13 year old son a few days ago ~ he was kidnapped by his elder cousins for ransom but killed by them ~ what conspired the kidnapping plan was that the cousins had to pay up for huge IPL Betting Losses ~ what an irony if they had bet against the fixing bookies on the three matches under cloud of Spot Fixing ! ~ they could never have won!
And Mr Harsha Bhogle this is one of the serious bad sides of the IPL ~ the good side as you state are the livelihoods created for hundreds of middle class families by their IPL Cricketer Sons Earnings ~ but what about the bad side that involves the Underworld and has millions in betting and losing millions,in probably spot fixed matches and resorting to crime to repay !
Perhaps T 10 is next !