The Show Must Go On

I spent the last evening watching Dravid’s Rajasthan Royals battle the Mumbai Indians (I am a fan of Royals and Dravid.) only to be greeted the very next afternoon with the shocking news that three Rajasthan Royals players, including Indian fast bowler Sreesanth, were arrested for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League. It is quite hard to swallow the fact that the match you watched last night involved spot fixing.

Many cricket fans in the country would be going through the same feeling that I do. This incident will in fact put suspicion in the viewers’ mind. There will now be cynicism about every match. Every Tom, Dick and Harry will become an analyst raising a finger on every game, every wicket, every six, and every four.

Twitter was flooded with tweets such as this one from

Pritish Nandy (@pritishnandy)  Actually the IPL is like our movie awards, designed for TV and TRPs. Don’t expect too much authenticity there. Its just another show.

And other loud mouths like Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose)

IPL is a microcosm of New India: Big quick money, graft and glamour, corruption and crowds, sexism, patriarchy, hype and instant gratification

True, there have been voices from all around to ban the IPL (The loudest of them, as always, coming from news channels). Yes there is ‘glamour’, ‘big quick money’ and 'hype'; no doubt about that but is it completely justified to blame a system if a person lacks integrity ? A few people’s hunger for money, blame it on IPL? India doesn't do well in the T20 world cup, blame it on IPL? You lose a test match, blame it on IPL? IPL has become a scapegoat for almost everything that happens in the cricketing world. The mere involvement of some players doesn't reflect the whole of IPL tournament. We have seen such things in the past in other sports as well including cycling and soccer. It is sheer greed for more money that makes people lose their integrity. It is just like the corruption we notice in every sphere around us.

Yes the IPL system needs fixes. But it definitely does not deserve to be banned. IPL has brought to light some brilliant cricketing talent. It has provided a platform for budding cricketers to share the dressing room with legends of the game. It has also more or less proved India’s capabilities of conducting a professional league for T20 cricket, six times over.  It has a brand value estimated to be around US$2.99 billion in fifth season. It has, no doubt, awakened global interest. As far as I believe , despite this major glitch, and the hue and cry all around, “The Show Must Go On..”

However a major cleanup operation is definitely required if cricket in India is to retain the loyalty of its fans.