Spot Fixing Scandal - Troubled times for Cricket

Cricket - the most popular sport of India - is going through a rough time. All the news of spot fixing is compromising the credibility of the sport.

First the news about the alleged financial irregularities against Lalit Modi - the man who single-handedly took Indian Premier League to its dizzy heights of popularity - followed by his suspension as Commissioner of Indian Premier League.

And now, all the media attention on news of spot fixing at the Lord's Test between England and Pakistan.

The names of three international players from Pakistan

• Mohammed Amir
• Mohammed Asif
• Salman Butt

has been doing the rounds regularly in the media for their alleged involvement in spot fixing.

The Chief Executives Committee (CEC) which met in Cape Town has reaffirmed the cricketing body's zero tolerance stance against any form of corruption.

As fans of the game, we can only hope that prompt and strict action is taken against the defaulters.

The action should be such that it sets an example for those who even dare to think of walking down the forbidden paths that damage the reputation of this great sport.

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa from 22 Sep 2009

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 (CT 2009) - a One Day International (ODI) competition is all set to start in Johannesburg from tomorrow (22-Sep-2009) with the inaugural match that will be played South Africa (SA) versus Sri Lanka (SL).

The CT 2009 is a 15 game tournament in which teams of eight countries will play. Two groups A and B have been setup with 4 teams in each group...

Group A - Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies
Group B - England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka

Each team will 3 games to qualify for the semi-finals, ie. 12 (6 each group) qualifying matches to decide the top 2 teams. These 12 match of the 2 groups in CT 2009 will be played between 22-Sep-2009 to 30-Sep-2009.

The top 4 teams - (2 from each group) will play the semi-finals on 2-Oct-2009 and 3-Oct-2009 and the winner of the semi finals will play the finals on 5-Oct-2009.

On Sunday, many eyebrows went up when BCCI President Shashank Manohar went public over the out-of-competition testing norms of WADA (World Anti Doping Agency). He had said that the "whereabout" clause was an infringement of the privacy of the players and also posed security risks for the them.

A new angle over the "whereabout" clause of the WADA agreement has been presented by Sports Minister M. S. Gill.

In the latest development our own Sports Minister M. S. Gill has spoken in the matter.

He has dismissed the claim by BCCI chief and asked the cricketers to fall in line without cribbing. He was surprised at the stand of the cricketers especially after the fact that most sportspersons across the world have already signed it.

Gill said that the world is concerned about doping and we should support WADA in its cause.

New Zealand stops Dhoni's Men

After a streak of wins in the Twenty20 (T20) games, New Zealand has finally brought the Indian winning spree to a grinding halt - 2 consecutive matches lost. Much to the disappointment of the cricket fans from India, there favourite team India has lost 2 games in succession to the New Zealand team.

Yeah! Yeah! I know! No team can go on winning all the games they play, but one cannot stop expectations from building up when we see our countrymen winning game after game, match after match. This time, too, the team had left for New Zealand after a successful tour of Sri Lanka.

Quite naturally, expectations from the team are at a long time high.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team's captain, has demonstrated praiseworthy leadership. He has received a lot of recognition for being able to maintain his cool even in the toughest of times and this particular trait of his has been attributed to be the main reason behind team's improved performance in the last few series.

But then, I believe it is good for the team to lose a match or two once in a while. It reminds everyone that they are not unbeatable and must keep up the practice and hard work at all times.

I would only like to say to the team - "Don't get disheartened by a couple of lost matches, there are many more to come where you can prove that you have it in you. You must go out and prove that we are the best."

Is this financial clout?

BCCI seems to have done it again. It has once again used its clout to affect the judgement of one more disciplinary action in the international cricketing circles.

This time it has used its clout to have the suspension of Shoaib Akhtar suitably suspended so that he could play for Shahrukh Khan's team - Kolkata Knight Riders. The day the judgement against Shoaib had been announced Lalit Modi had gone public saying that he would ensure that Shoaib plays in the Indian Premier League.

He has moved subtlely but surely and done what he had promised.

I am not against Shoaib Akhtar playing in the IPL matches. He is a good player and it would be a pleasure to watch him in action. However, it surely surprises me how the Indian cricket board is using its clout to influence the way the game is governed internationally.

On one hand it has initiated proceedings against Harbhajan Singh and suspended for striking fellow player Shreesanth and at the same time it has apparently coaxed and influenced another country's cricket board, that too in a very similar case where the judgement had been passed against Shoaib for entering into a brawl with his fellow teammate.

The board had used its clout only recently when Harbhajan Singh had been suspended by the match referee in Australia for the alleged racist comments passed by him during an arguement with Andrew Symonds.