Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian
Express
Date: June 19, 2000
It would take a brave
soul indeed to unequivocally declare who's innocent and who's guilty as
the worms keep slithering out of the grimy can that is international cricket.
In its stead, we have everybody and his grandmother leaping into the controversy
and shouting out his/her ever-changing verdicts on the growing list of
protagonists, and accordingly prescribing a remedy. So it must be, given
the passions the game inspires, especially in the subcontinent. So it must
also be if cricket administrators are to be finally compelled to give appropriate
attention of this horrid menace of match-fixing. And yet, one cannot help
but notice a certain disquiet among lovers of the game. It is all very
well to wide-eyedly watch replays of Hansie Cronje's explosive testimony
about India's former captain with the most famous wrists in cricketing
history; it is quite another matter to gauge the impact this will have
on sundry inquiries being conducted in various parts of the world. From
the straws flying in the wind, it isextremely doubtful if any progress
will be made into cleaning up cricket.
But first, to the latest
episode in this murky saga. Mohammed Azharuddin's name has been invoked
in far too many discussions and debates on match-fixing for Cronje's charge
to come as anything of a bombshell. That Azhar's antecedents be thoroughly
inquired into has been a demand of his fans as well as his critics for
many years now. On each occasion that the Hyderabad batsman's intent has
been doubted, he has made a dramatic comeback by bedazzling spectators
if at some venues with his breathtakingly spectacular rescue from an impending
follow-on, then at others with his gentlemanly approach to proceedings
on the field. In the process, he has extended his cricketing career beyond
even his own expectations voiced years ago. But now, even as it is emphasised
that his innocence or his guilt can only be decided by letting the law
take its course, it is very unfortunate that Azhar has decided to sully
the debate by suddenly invoking his minority status. Other cricketers,
he stated to a host of interviewers in thecourse of single Friday, ``can't
stand the idea that a person from the minority community should have been
in the saddle of Indian cricket...for 16 years.'' If that did not grip
your imagination, he added that Cronje's testimony was part of a South
African conspiracy to counter the Delhi Police offensive. By resorting
to such facile and obfuscatory tactics, Azhar is merely abusing his fans
and his well-wishers.
But then, why blame Azhar?
Racist undertones have coloured this controversy from the very beginning.
From the initial reactions in the western press to the Cronje tapes to
the still prevalent tendency to ironize the confessional divide. This is
most unfortunate. It is obvious from the substantial body of circumstantial
evidence that has been accumulated that race and religion erect no barriers
against the lure of lucre in contemporary cricket. So what's the solution?
Well, certainly the various cricket boards have proved themselves woefully
inadequate for starters, consider the words of folks like Jaywant Lele
and Ali Bacher. It perhaps needs a couple of cricketers suddenly possessed
of a conscience to come forward and provide fresh leads.
