Dedication, drama, deceit - Cricket is still the winner

S Sreesanth

The agonizing wait for righteousness has finally ended on a satisfying note. The integrity of the faith has been reinstated and truth has once again stood tall among a series of wrongs. Finally, light has graced the end of an anxious travel down the long, dark tunnel.

What is especially unique is the fact that the perseverance of a billions hearts and prayers of a million souls have guaranteed the establishment of justice and impartiality in a pleasantly short time, with the austerity of chastisements coming as a respect-demanding surprise.

Spot-fixing is one issue that has plagued the game of cricket quite frequently in the near past. With reputed cricketers like Sreesanth involved and the credibility of BCCI’s gold mine, the IPL at stake, sceptics weren’t really hopeful about the deliverance of justice.

With the Indian Legal System’s popular knack of running the slow race, anticipating a verdict within five months would have been asking too much. At least, that was the way it was supposed to be.

But, as foreigners have learnt always, India is a land of surprises. While sweeping the matter under the carpet would have been a far easier and reassuring tactic, the Court resolved on taking the painstaking route to investigate the fiasco in details and sentencing the accused as required.

Over half the population of sceptics, who were waiting for some kind of appeasement for the accused, ran out of words while explaining this unforeseen exercise of authority by the Court. Even the accused were in for a rare surprise by our legal system. A mild reprimand was what they had been anticipating, and may be a couple of apology media statements in addition.

However, the devotees of the game certainly don’t mind. Hopes haven’t been belied; trust hasn’t been betrayed; faith and loyalty has been rewarded. It is one of those atypical moments in the history of cricket where the game has been witness to the strictest of policies. The unforgiving nature of the sport has once again been highlighted, courtesy the India’s kamikaze legalese.

So is this a new dawn? Of course, that’s one question cricket will sort out itself. Life will move on, so will the game. Spot-fixing controversies are too meager to stain the sport that has survived the test of time.

The rigors and ordeals that iconic players like Sreesanth have to face will serve as a reminder of the triumph of justice. That even success at its peak fails to wipe away the blemishes of deceit is a truth that is dangerously obvious. The consequences of a premature end to one’s career are a deterrent strong enough to ensure that youngsters abstain from immorality in any field of life.

For all its tainted individuals, the gentleman’s game has once again served out as a reminiscent to the validation of its nickname. The spirit of a gentleman is what makes the huge difference at the end of the day. For no derision is Rahul Dravid hailed as a cricketer true to the term.

Such is the magnanimity of the sport, that cricket has always emerged victorious through various odds and difficulties. The escalating fan base continues to swell exponentially even as hypocrites attempt to exemplify the boredom resulting from the overdose of the bat and ball rivalry.

The overdose of honey certainly makes it bitter after a point of time, but with all the action, drama, glamour, hype and vehemence around, who can blame the fervor of the frenzied crowd and their insatiable appetite for success?

Cricket, plagued with all its tainted liabilities, has inadvertently learnt the art of Natural Selection pertaining to the credibility of the game. In that rarest case of politics being kept at a light years’ distance from the spirit of the sport, cricket has its means to churn out its own gentlemen from the unruly youths. However, with people born and bred in political atmosphere occupying honorable posts in the Cricket Boards, that’s less likely to happen.

The average cricket fan doesn’t mind though. For him, the regular dose of intensified entertainment inside the 22 yards is sedative enough for a peaceful night’s sleep.

And this is precisely how cricket has exploited the conciseness of public memory through generations; and that is how it will remain in future.