Spotted Shame: RR’s Prodigal sons
revealed
Spot fixing menace
Hannah Arendt's
famous phrase, the banality of evil, may not be out of place in the context of
the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) and the mephitic cloud of corruption
under which it has prospered. Three cricketers from Rajasthan Royals viz., S. Sreesanth,
Ankeet Chavan, Ajit Chandila were arrested in the wee hours on 16 May 2013
charged on the grounds of spot fixing.
What is Spot fixing?
Spot fixing is an illegal activity wherein a player plays his part of the game in a pre-decided arrangement. The banned sports betting and bookie system in India flourishes with spot fixing embedded in its roots.
The recent drama unfolded that Chavan received Rs 60 lakh while Chandila and Sreesanth were paid Rs. 40 lakh each by the bookies. This act stirs a Déjà vu of the late Hansie Cronjo spot fixing case back in 2000 when the South African cricketer caught by the Delhi police, confessed to his crime and was banned for life by the South African Board. In both cases, sleuths chanced upon the nexus while scrutinizing electronic media to keep tabs on the mafia. In the current scenario, the Investigation Bureau passed on the information to Delhi Police while tapping the phone records in an illegal foreign cash flow case. After recording 100 hours of conversation Delhi Police arrested 14 persons including the 3 RR cricketers. Codes like wrist band, hand towel, locket, warm ups were used to indicate the bookies that the settlement would yield result in that particular over.
Spot fixing is an illegal activity wherein a player plays his part of the game in a pre-decided arrangement. The banned sports betting and bookie system in India flourishes with spot fixing embedded in its roots.
The recent drama unfolded that Chavan received Rs 60 lakh while Chandila and Sreesanth were paid Rs. 40 lakh each by the bookies. This act stirs a Déjà vu of the late Hansie Cronjo spot fixing case back in 2000 when the South African cricketer caught by the Delhi police, confessed to his crime and was banned for life by the South African Board. In both cases, sleuths chanced upon the nexus while scrutinizing electronic media to keep tabs on the mafia. In the current scenario, the Investigation Bureau passed on the information to Delhi Police while tapping the phone records in an illegal foreign cash flow case. After recording 100 hours of conversation Delhi Police arrested 14 persons including the 3 RR cricketers. Codes like wrist band, hand towel, locket, warm ups were used to indicate the bookies that the settlement would yield result in that particular over.
Corruption and Cricket
The utter lack of transparency in the IPL did come to light a few years ago when the BCCI took punitive action against Lalit Modi whose brainchild the league was.
The black history of corruption in cricket engulfs:
The utter lack of transparency in the IPL did come to light a few years ago when the BCCI took punitive action against Lalit Modi whose brainchild the league was.
The black history of corruption in cricket engulfs:
- May 2000: Pak’s Saleem Malik and Rehman banned for life after being found guilty of fixing.
- Dec 2000: India’s Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma banned for life and Jadeja for 5 years by BCCI.
- Aug 2010: News of the World expose of Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir who were bribed to bowl no-balls on demand
- May 16, 2013: Rajasthan Royals’ players S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan arrested for spot fixing.
Digging the Cause
RR’s contract for the players Ajit Chandila, S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan in monetary terms was approximately of Rs 10 lakh, Rs 2.2 crore and Rs 30 lakh respectively. This brings back the widely used rhetoric question, “Is there an end for greed?”. Experts say a discarded player is prone to fixing while some blame the naïve age of the young cricketers. The bookies lure the cricketers with an extravagant amount which the budding players like Chandila and Chavan see a shortcut to grab riches overnight. It is their insecure position in the game that they succumb to fixing. Well the irony of this theory elates when players like Cronjo and Jadeja fell prey to the bookies.
RR’s contract for the players Ajit Chandila, S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan in monetary terms was approximately of Rs 10 lakh, Rs 2.2 crore and Rs 30 lakh respectively. This brings back the widely used rhetoric question, “Is there an end for greed?”. Experts say a discarded player is prone to fixing while some blame the naïve age of the young cricketers. The bookies lure the cricketers with an extravagant amount which the budding players like Chandila and Chavan see a shortcut to grab riches overnight. It is their insecure position in the game that they succumb to fixing. Well the irony of this theory elates when players like Cronjo and Jadeja fell prey to the bookies.
Hall Of Shame
The recent sensational case evoked criticism from all the top notch players with Lalit Modi terming the scam as the tip of the iceberg. The playing dirty revealed the cricketers lust for green paper bringing disgrace for the whole cricket community and a sense of betrayal upon all its fans. The RR’s owners stand on zero tolerance of corruption and misconduct will pave way for due course of justice but would leave a blot on Indian and International cricket.
The recent sensational case evoked criticism from all the top notch players with Lalit Modi terming the scam as the tip of the iceberg. The playing dirty revealed the cricketers lust for green paper bringing disgrace for the whole cricket community and a sense of betrayal upon all its fans. The RR’s owners stand on zero tolerance of corruption and misconduct will pave way for due course of justice but would leave a blot on Indian and International cricket.
A major clean-up operation is required if
cricket in India is to retain loyalty of its fans. And the passivity and
inaction on part of men who run the game in this country may turn out to be
worse than active collusion. The
legalisation of Betting in India can be a way out to stop the
furthering of this menace and can even empower the government in revenue
generation. As its said the Dark side always seems catchy , so why not throw some light in the dark?
The Spot
fixing scam has taken away the limelight from the Railgate scam, Coalgate scam
, Coalgate cover up scam and even the perennial rape cases, taking the noose off
the involved Ministers and Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar (though
for a short duration), who was among the few men who seemed happy about the revelation of
the scandal. :P
