Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Will cricket too suffer the same fate as hockey?' that was published in Newsband

Will cricket too suffer the same fate as hockey?

Cricket in India is in danger. First it was just the exposure of betting and spot-fixing scandals involving players. Now we find that the man at the very top of cricket administration in India, N. Srinivasan, is also involved in this mess. His son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, too was arrested. Now it is up to the BCCI to investigate and act against those who tarnish the reputation of the IPL.

In today’s cricket we find that everything from runs given, wickets taken, and catches dropped are linked to corrupt practices. This fact mocks the very spirit of cricket and belittles the interest that millions of fans take in the game. Indian cricket will have to be saved from politicians, tycoons and fixers who try to control the game.

IPL has brought the entire cricket fraternity to the sub continent where players are able to choose franchises over playing tests and for their own country.

IPL is there to stay and entertain the masses and lovers of the game and BCCI has taken it to great heights, glitz and glamour all included. Naturally there will be enemies, jealousy, split of power and authority of vested boards and individual and thereby creating confusion, machinations leading to fixing by disgruntled and inconsistent players/elements afraid of their future and playing abilities on the cricket field.

Indians are asking Srinivasan to leave the BCCI which he heads for ignoring malafide activities in the IPL. The strange thing is that these people have never asked for the resignation of the Prime Minister even though several scams of gigantic proportions have sullied the UPA government he heads. Why this double standards?

There are some people who are of the opinion that IPL is good entertainment and enjoyed by millions.  According to them betting used to be allowed in horse racing, so why not in cricket and other games. They believe that if betting in cricket is legalized, it would be at least under some control.

Whether Srinivasan resigns or not, the propriety of tournament like IPL is looking bleak. But, a cricket crazy nation like India will continue to encourage such tournaments even though such scandals happen more than often. This is purely because there is no alternative sports to dominate and cricket has its roots deep in India. An average village household might not have access to power, food and infrastructure, but we can find a group of people playing cricket.

Some cricket lovers fear that cricket is the last bastion of sports in the country and that it might also suffer the fate of hockey. They fear that people might stop supporting cricket and if there won’t be any money in it, the politician and other bees will also fly away. Anyway, sports worldwide are left to gambling dens, officially or unofficially.