IPL spot-fixing: A Pandora's Box

One fine evening in April, 2008, the Indian couch potato was browsing through the T.V. channels, as was his daily norm. In doing so, he came upon a certain cricket match being played between two teams wearing never-before-seen jerseys. Overcome by curiosity, he stayed put on that channel. He saw two Indian cities, with some foreign players as well, competing on a cricket field. He saw a certain Brendon McCullum bludgeon his way to 154 runs off just 80 deliveries. Never before had he seen such fireworks from the batsman’s blade. Never before had he heard packed stadiums chanting “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo”. Never before had he seen young women, dressed in shorts , dancing seductively, every time the cricket ball reached the fence. What he was witnessing was history in the making. What was he watching was “Cricketainment”. He was watching the Indian Premier League.

If you thought that this was meant to be just a whiplash, and would gradually fade away, well, then you could not be farther from the truth. The Indian Premier League was here to stay. With each passing season, its popularity grew exponentially. The people were able to see cricket, cheerleaders, film stars, all packed in one 3 hour show. Naturally, the sponsors started paying astronomical amounts for broadcast slot during the matches. Players were auctioned, as if some commodity, to various franchises in exchange of huge amounts of money. Players were started to be given salaries equivalent to a year’s income playing for their respective boards. No wonder, the International Cricket Council (ICC) was alarmed by this uneasy development. They saw the IPL as a cash-carrot to lure the players away from international cricket. Their fear turned to reality when several players chose the IPL over their country. However, they were not to be blamed, for, the glamour, glitz and money on offer was too good to refuse.