Sir, cricket fans are quite used to the term “ball by ball commentary” but what they are hearing now could be called a “blow by blow commentary on IPL”! Who thought that cricket will be brought to such a low. First, we heard about the alleged involvement of three players from Rajasthan Royals in “spot-fixing” and their arrests together with some notorious bookies.
This shocking news was followed by an announcement from the International Cricket Council that Asad Rauf, now an umpire in the IPL matches, will not be officiating in the Champions Trophy matches to be held in England, following media reports saying that his role in the betting racket is being investigated by the Mumbai police.
And now the Mumbai police has formally arrested a top official of the Chennai Super Kings franchise on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud. The arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, who is son-in-law of the BCCI president N. Srinivasan, is the most serious setback to the IPL in its six-year history and has serious implications for the BCCI.
We believe that under present circumstances, the BCCI should hire the services of an outside independent agency to conduct an impartial inquiry into the whole affair.
Sweeping things under the carpet will definitely ruin the name of this gentlemanly game. Who would like to watch a game, the result of which is already determined by the bookies and the so-called “sportsmen” — let us call them the “fixers”! — S.H. Moulana, Riyadh
Who would watch a ‘fixed match?
