COVER RIPPED APART
Editorial
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Saturday, May 18, 2013
IPL fixing points to multiple failures
Even if it had been the need to ensure a decent living
which had motivated the three young cricketers to collude
with unscrupulous bookies and spot-fix matches, it would
still not be a justification for betraying their game and
the country. That it was not the need for sustenance but
unmitigated greed which motivated Rajasthan Royals
players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, to
sell themselves out only makes their crime more
reprehensible. The Indian Premier League is a well-paying
venture. Gone are the days when cricketers, hemmed in by
their short shelf-lives, would have to look for other
ways and means to support themselves.
Today, even youngsters like Sreesanth, Chandila and
Chavan make good money, as the IPL format has proved to
be hugely profitable. In fact, paying the new players
handsomely so that they remain motivated to perform, and
exposing them to the best of cricketers in India and
abroad so that they can improve and contribute to the
game, are the two pillars of the IPL. By effectively
throwing away their game for even more money, the players
have subverted the basic concept that is IPL � now
tainted as a money-guzzling monster.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which manages
the tournament, has done the least it could have by
suspending the accused. But that is neither an effective
deterrent nor is it an excuse for the BCCI to wash its
hands of the matter. While the three players will surely
be prosecuted and punished if their guilt is established,
the BCCI must also pull up its socks.
Continues at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/cover-ripped-apart.html
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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