Cricket is one of the most
popular sport all over the world and it is the second most spectator sport after
football. Cricket have never been a no stranger game to controversy and being an
extremely popular and revered game, it’s bound to attract crime syndicates
trying to make profits out of it. Besides gambling and betting, match-fixing has
emerged as an incredibly profiting venture for both the players and shady
syndicates, that is, until they get caught.
Match-fixing is when players are paid off by gamblers for playing with a
pre-determined result in view. This method of playing violates various laws and
game rules that may result in fine, jail or partial to complete ban. Over the
years many cricketers have been convicted guilty of being in active connection
with bookies.
Here we are putting a light to some of the very famous fixing incidents which
have damaged the game of concerned countries over the period.
One of the greatest match-fixing scandals in cricket that rocked the
international cricket fraternity occurred in the 2000, when Delhi Police
revealed that they have recorded shady conversations between Sanjay Chawla and
Hansie Cronje. Cronje was a successful and beloved South African cricketer until
his involvement with Sanjay Chawla (a well-known member of Indian betting
syndicate) came to light. Initially Cronje denied all charges of match-fixing
but later during cross-examination, he broke down. At the end Hansie Cronje was
banned for lifetime. And in 2002, he died of a plane crash giving rise to
theories that Cronje was murdered.
Another shocking incident happened when a brilliant batsman and an accomplished
captain of the Indian Cricket Team throughout the 90s, Mohammad Azharuddin was
accused of match-fixing in 2000. Hansie Cronje, a South African player accused
of Match-Fixing Scandals in Cricket, when confessing his misdeeds informed
investigators that it was Azhar who’d introduced him to bookies. Consequently,
he was found guilty of fixing 3 ODIs, therefore, was banned for life by both the
ICC and the BCCI. Later Azhar had alleged that he was being dragged into a
conspiracy because he was Muslim. In 2012, however, the Andhra Pradesh High
Court lifted the ban. But still he will be questioned for the rest of his life.
And if we talk about our own beloved homeland Pakistan, one of the greatest
fixing incident took place in the history of Pakistan cricket which shook the
bricks of Pakistan cricket and the country was put into the shame in the whole
world. In 2010, players of Pakistan’s national cricket team were busted by a
sting operation by News of the World for taking bribes from a bookmaker named
Mazhar Majeed in return of playing no-balls. Three players – Salman Butt,
Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were condemned guilty and banned by ICC for a
period of 5 to 10 years. And in 2011, they were sent to jail for 6 to 32 months
in charges of conspiracy and deliberately playing no-ball in Test matches.
Recently one of the player involved in this scandal have returned to the
international cricket and the rest two of them are also thinking of a comeback
as well.
As the inception of T20 cricket have been hugely successful and the spectators
are loving this format with the lots of glamour and entertainment in it. And it
has given birth to the various cricket leagues which have become very popular.
And with the amount of money and richer people involved in these leagues, there
are higher chances of fixing in these leagues as well. And similarly, a scandal
came out in of the biggest cricket leagues Indian Premier League (IPL). A
premier league in a country where cricket is worshiped as a religion is bound to
be involved in one of the greatest Match-Fixing Scandals in Cricket. During the
6th season of Indian Premier League the Delhi Police charged three cricketers,
Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan and S. Sreesanth of Rajasthan Royals for being
involved in spot-fixing. 23 others including bookies, actors, co-owners (like
Vindu Dara Singh and Gurunath Meiyappan) were brought under scanner for betting
and committing other illegal activities. They were thought to have connections
with underworld lords Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel. Lack of coordination
among the police departments and unavailability of solid evidences led to
release of many people including Sreesanth and Chavan. But after founding guilty
all three players were banned and two of the IPL franchises were also banned for
two years over match allegations.
Talking about the recent incident, recently three Pakistani players Sharjeel
khan, Mohammad Irfan and Khalid Latif have been found guilty for the allegation
of match fixing in the second edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) all the
three players have been suspended by Pakistan Cricket Board while the
investigation completes.
So, the question here arises that why the alleged players are even allowed to
represent their countries again? Shouldn’t they be banned for life time because
of selling the country over a little amount? The International Cricket Council (ICC)
must do something for the betterment of the game otherwise the game will keep
getting hurt by these shameful incidents.