What’s with this latest scandal of spot-fixing doing the rounds on every news channel these days? I was just discussing with my dad when we first heard of the no-balls bowled by Aamir and Asif coming under the scanner of the international cricket fraternity (of course, that now inherently includes the bookies and the media). Who the hell cares about 2-3 no-balls being bowled in a test match that goes on for 5 days? Who would make any sort of money off it? Who would actually place bets on / against a bowler’s leg landing ahead of the popping crease? Apparently, a lot of people would! I am still unsure of how the common betting man would make any money off it. The bookies, sure. The bookies pay the player to bowl a no-ball / drop a catch / get out before reaching a century, the player does as told and makes a ton of money in the bargain. The bookie earns from duping the common man, because he doesn’t know squat on what to bet on. But does a Siddharth Puri make any money from spot-fixing? Any insights on that front would be highly appreciated!
The Pakistani team has had its fair share of controversies! In fact, as far as I can remember, at any given point in time, there has been some player or the other from the Pakistan squad under the scanner for doing something illegal – be it for hauling drugs, match fixing or devouring the cricket ball as if it were a Big Mac! Keeping that in mind, I figure that PCB should have an additional set of players just to account for such an event for every tour that the team goes for. My suggestion is that there should be the Playing 11, 5 Substitutes, and an additional pool of 3-4 cricketers forming the Counter-Controversy Bench (CCB). That way the Pakistan squad will always have the CCB as a fall back when the Afridis, the Aamirs and the Asifs fall out of line, and are suspended for their misdemeanours. The current strength of a 16-man squad just doesn’t seem adequate for the Pakistani team under the current circumstances! Its almost as if PCB selects the team for a tour, the players get on a flight, and by the time they reach the destination, 2 guys need to be replaced owing to suspension / disciplinary actions / bans!!!
On one of the debates on TV, someone brought out the point that the Indian team is not involved in such allegations because overall, the background of our cricketers is largely upper middle-class – they have money in their bank accounts, and don’t necessarily need to cheat. On the other hand, the Pakistani squad is made up of players rising from the streets, of poor families, and the temptation of making a quick buck is far too irresistible for these blokes. Agreed. And add to that point the millions that the Indian cricketers make from advertisements probably goes that extra mile from preventing them to take up alternate means of raking in the moolah! I wonder how much money the Pakistani cricketers today make through advertising and promotions. I remember Imran Khan being on the forefront of TV advertising back in the day – well, fortunately for him, he had the looks to go with his unquestionable cricketing talent. Somehow, God hasn’t been that kind to the present breed of Pakistani cricketers, at least in the looks department. Besides the likes of Boom Boom Afridi (for the lack of anyone better in the squad), I don’t see any other cricketer really having the persona to sell stuff to the average consumer! I’m not saying that the Indian squad is filled with Greek Gods, hell no! Look at the Cloud 9 ads with RP Singh, or our giraffe-like Ishant Sharma posing with a Pepsi, and you’ll know. Just saying that compare the majority of players in both teams, and you’ll get my point. So, true, Pakistani cricketers do have it tough, and the temptation to go astray would be much higher for them.
Sanjay Manjarekar also mentioned that BCCI was much stronger coming down on the tainted players on this side of the border, as opposed to the PCB doing next to nothing. Let me not comment on that front owing to the fact that I don’t know too much on what PCB did to the players implicated in match fixing so far – I hope this has more to do with my ignorance than PCB not doing anything worth remembering!
To summarize, I say that a small set of players has truly ruined it for everybody! Frankly, I feel especially bad for the sub-continent cricketers. The entire sub-continent (with the exception of the Sri Lankans off late) are known for their bad fielding. There is no way you are going to make an Anil Kumble or an Umar Gul dive to save a couple of runs! Come on! We love our whites, and want to keep them that way! We’re proud of our ‘safedi ki chamkar’ and all that! Now imagine the plight of these players after this whole spot-fixing scam has come into the limelight! A Saeed Ajmal can no longer drop a sitter or two without being rounded up by the Scotland Yard! Poor guys, don’t you agree?
