Controverises and the pakistan cricket team are hand in gloves .This time around some innovative way of match fixing in this new high technology era of modern cricket.
"BOWL A NO BALL AND YOU WILL BE PAID"as simple as that.
Gentle men's game has been defamed again .its authenticity has been questioned again.
The Pakistan team was locked in a pulsating contest against Australia and then England. True, the wins were rare—just two in six Test matches—yet the nation found refuge from its unbearably harsh reality in the exploits of its fast bowlers. It was a sight to behold: 18-year-old Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif tearing into their formidable opponents with some extraordinary pace and swing. It seemed Pakistan had rediscovered its fast bowling prowess of yore. Was this the beginning of a cricketing renaissance? The team became a beacon of hope for a nation drowning in abject sorrow, a poultice to the deep wounds of the present, a promise of what Pakistan still might be.
Political extremism was, anyway, strangulating cricket. Teams don’t tour Pakistan anymore because of security concerns. Some think Butt and the two As—Asif and Aamer—have done greater disservice to Pakistan than the terrorists who attacked the Lankan cricket team last year. Former spinner and ex-chief selector Iqbal Qasim sighs, “Pakistan cricket has seen every possible mishap, but this allegation of spot-fixing is one of the biggest. Let’s see how our cricket comes out of this one.” Adds former captain Imran Khan, “There is a need to send out a message to youngsters—crime does not pay. If, God forbid, the allegation turns out to be true, then it will be the biggest setback for Pakistan cricket and, probably, end the careers of the two best bowlers in the world.”
Perhaps it’s an exaggeration to implicate PCB officials but there’s no denying that they have in the past condoned guilty players or allowed them to get away with quite laughable punishment. Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who headed a judicial inquiry into match-fixing 10 years ago, says, “Some of the players who I recommended should not be given any responsibility in team affairs are still associated with the team.” He is, of course, referring to the current coach Waqar Younis, whom the Qayyum committee had fined then, and fielding coach Ijaz Ahmed, who still has several cases of fraud pending against him.
The big question why time and again pakistani cricketers , are they not getting rightly paid or they are the soft targets? it is a million dollar question.
The “humble background” argument has also been invoked to explain the match-fixing phenomenon in Pakistan. It’s said that most Pakistani players, unlike in the past, now hail from impoverished backgrounds, which renders them susceptible to the lure of the lucre. Add to this the uncertainties of Pakistan cricket—there are no longer frequent matches, the competition is stiff, the selectors are known to play favourites. The players also earn far less in comparison to those from other countries and barely bag endorsements, perhaps a reflection of Pakistan’s economy. At times, extraneous circumstances, like India’s decision to disallow them from the IPL last year, also shatter expectations, leaving the players’ financial plans going haywire. For instance, it is said that Salman Butt had started to build a spiffy house on the expected earnings from the IPL, but had to borrow money to complete it. Could this then have prompted Salman to take the bookie’s bait?
Former captain Rameez Raja alluded to this vitiated atmosphere while analysing Aamer’s career. “Aamer comes from a humble background,” Ramiz said. “He is 18, with an impressionable mind, and if he has been keeping bad company, it’s possible he could have been drawn (into wrongdoing). But if that’s the case, then the guys who got him in should be put behind bars because they’ve spoilt a grand career. They’ve infiltrated and spoilt a young mind...it’s a shocking state of affairs.”
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