Spot-fixing sting doesn’t surprise Pakistanis, who believe India are always allowed to get away, thanks to the BCCI’s money power, while they are labelled as habitual offenders, says a report in The DNA.
“The general feeling in Pakistan was that IPL had always been “above the law” and a revelation of this kind was only expected. Sarfraz Nawaz, never short of an opinion on cricket corruption, is believed to have launched a tirade against the Indian cricket board. He has said that the ICC is too feeble a body to intervene since it has always been under the thumb of the BCCI. But, he reminded, that had any Pakistan cricketer been involved, the game’s governing body would have launched an inquiry by now.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board officials have been silent on the issue. They are unwilling to offend the BCCI who only recently cleared Pakistan’s decks for the CL T20,” says the DNA report.
Later in the day, readers peppered the website of Dawn with vitriolic comments. One post read: “This news has ineluctably proven that the high profile IPL is nothing but a showcase for gamblers, betting and film stars. However, one has to give credit where due, that it is exciting to watch the matches. But since India is an emerging super power with mountains of money, the ICC will become a ‘limp-wrist’ where justice is concerned.”
When it comes to judging corruption allegations in cricket, particularly in the sub-continent, ‘no smoke without fire’ has become the favoured testing method, reads an article in Hindustan Times. “There are two strong reasons for this: The match-fixing scandal that rocked the game in 2000 and the serious concerns raised by the Central Bureau of Investigation ripped apart pretensions that the game was insulated from shady elements. The scourge of spotfixing then came to the fore after the Newsoftheworld sting in 2010 led to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir being jailed in the UK,” opines the article.
“With every second fixing allegation being sourced to illegal bookies based in world cricket’s financial hub, few think these elements do not try to target the game in the country. The Indian Premier League, since it kicked off in 2008, has never been free of whispers; close matches, incredible twists and turns, and the way teams that are seemingly down and out bounce back every time only fuel more speculation,” says the HT article, adding that the TV sting on domestic players, essentially fringe characters as far as the multi-million dollar IPL goes, has raised serious fears that the rot runs deep and even domestic cricket like Ranji, Deodhar Trophy, etc is not immune.
“Some of the players who spoke to the undercover reporters claimed spot-fixing does happen in the IPL.”
Meanwhile The Hindu writes that until 1997, all the murmurs of possible match-fixing in cricket were dismissed as creation of those jealous of the popularity enjoyed by the game. “With television bringing the games to the drawing rooms of the millions of cricket-loving households, the spectre of match-fixing grew with the involvement of the underworld gaining currency. Many believe that live telecast of the matches, even if involves lesser cricketing nations like Zimbabwe or Kenya, aids betting. Once the bets get bigger, the stakes become higher. Higher stakes, in turn, lead to the lure of influencing the ‘performers' to get the desired ‘results'. The Pakistan trio of Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif is an example of precocious talent falling prey to the lure of the lucre,” says the article, adding that the revelations from the cricket world, whether involving Indians, South Africans or Pakistanis, have established that all is not clean with what was once described as a “Gentlemen's Game”.
