Sreesanth : A Sacrificial Goat ?
By Binoy Thomas
I just got back from India, and am happy to report that things are hot like hell back in apna bharat. The sun has been blazing as never before in living memory, according to local residents, and add to it power cuts and water shortages. The one bright spot for me was that it was the IPL season, and all is normally forgotten when cricket’s best talents take to the incredibly well-maintained grounds (they are not astro turfs, and need watering). I watched with admiration and awe Chris Gayle’s incredible sequence of sixers during the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Pune Warriors tussle. And as I was warming up to the season, came the shattering news of Rajasthan Royal’s strike bowler Sreesanth’s arrest over spot fixing. The investigation is continuing and since then has netted even late wrestling legend Dara Singh’s son Vindu.
Now looking back, I can’t help wonder if Gayle’s sixes were really that good. The latest scandal, not by any means, the first or for that matter last (I will explain why), is casting all actions and actors on or off field as ‘suspect’.
As the media went to town on juicy details on the Sreesanth’s various little ‘outings’, there was an unreal quality to the League, almost as if it was a reality show. Like with all reality show, we don’t know much of it is spontaneous and true, and how much scripted behind the scenes, we are left to wonder who is and who is not clean in Indian Premier League?
The indications available at press time is far from encouraging. The latest name to be linked to the ongoing investigations by various police agencies is none other than the son-in-law of Board of Control for Cricket in India President N. Srinivasan, Gurunath Meiyappan. ”We have served the summons to Meiyappan, one was stuck on the main door of his home on Cenotaph Road in Alwarpeth, Chennai, and another was accepted by a manager in the Chennai Super Kings office at Coromandel Towers today,” said Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy. Meiyappan, it was revealed, besides being CEO, is a part owner of Chennai Super Kings. The notice was served following interrogation of arrested Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh and inspection of records of his phone calls with Meiyappan and some bookies. ”We are hopeful that Meiyappan will cooperate with police. In case he fails to show up within the allotted time, there are procedures in law to ensure his availability, but it would not augur well,” Roy added. Now the stuff is really hitting the fan. First of all, how is that a powerful administrator’s son is also a part owner of a major team in the league, a fact few in the public knew, till now? Srinivasan who seemed genuinely pained following Sreesanth’s arrest, is now unavailable to the media. But he doesn’t need to defend himself, as even bigger names have rushed with favourable judgements. IPL chairman and an Indian cabinet minister, Rajeev Shukla, Thursday, asked, “What is the need for BCCI chief to step down? If some MPs take bribe, does it mean parliament should be closed.” God alone knows what he wanted to convey? Maybe, that was the idea, cloud the issue, and shield those really high up on the totem pole from being asked inconvenient questions. Apparently, the real rot in cricket can be traced to ‘players’ that are not on the field and they are as powerful as you can get in a corrupt country. When the story broke, there were jokes galore in India of watching each cricketer’s gestures other than with the bat and ball, to see what kind of signal they were sending out to bookies sitting in India, Pakistan and Dubai. Did he just scratch his nose? Followed by a wide! Aha, gotcha! But fans will be fans, and they continue to enjoy the spectacle, largely in the comfort of their homes, while ground attendance at many venues are minimal, making this all the more a reality show on TV.
While Sreesanth provided the perfect target for media and public to start shooting, no one was asking the ultimate question, a question that desperately needs answer – is anyone in IPL or Indian government serious about cleaning up the act? This is not the first time match fixing allegations have plagued big time cricket. Each time, a few players provided the fodder for the press, and then show would go on without further investigation by the media or the police, till the next time, like this time.
The money involved, it seems, is enough to turn even the most ardent followers of Raja Harishchandra into jelly beans of corruption. Various unofficial estimates (what else it can be!), put the total sum involved at a conservative $8 billion or more. One media report attempts to be specific, saying “the business was worth 50,000 crore rupees ($10 billion) at the start of the season, but has come down to 15,000 crores as a result of the scandal”. This is too much money to be floating around unchannelled, unregulated and you can’t blame the opportunists from attempting to grab all of it. And yes, I forgot to tell you, there’s always a Dubai or Pakistan connection. From recent media reports, it would seem that nearly 1500 bookies in India take instructions from mysterious persons connected to a Professor Moriarty (from Sherlock Holmes of course) like figure, known as Mr. D in Dubai or Pakistan, prompting one local wag to quip, ‘you may keep Pakistan out of IPL, but you can never keep Pakistan out of IPL’!
Given India’s national security interests, then shouldn’t local authorities take match fixing slightly more seriously? After all, creating a League that provides easy picking for your ‘sworn enemy’ is not exactly the best way to protect a country. That is, if this constant strain that runs in media and public is only a misdirection, and that the real mysterious players even behind the non-resident operators, are the supremely powerful sitting within India, and beyond the reach of the law.
Why else, after so much scandal and the great risk to national security, wouldn’t India start a conversation on legalizing sports betting as it happens elsewhere in the world. A regulated betting scenario can act as a counter to the menace of illegal betting and the all-pervasive corruption that flows out of it. There is a good chance that odd instances of ‘fixing’ will still remain, but the moment India takes a decision to go legit with its sports betting, they will not only reap a rich harvest (billions in extra accruals to the exchequer), but they will also have reduced the influence of those sitting elsewhere, inimical to the interest of the country and yes, good cricket everywhere. photo caption