News&Media

2000 MELTDOWN

NEWS & MEDIA

In this weekly section we will try to focus your attention on an issue that could be of national,social,political,economic interests. The sole nature of this section is to try and make a difference, an awareness, an attempt to try and reach out to you. These are our views and opinions. So, if you find something maybe a bit disturbing, or you do not agree with what we have to say, or you have any topic, that according to you needs some spotlight then, you can feel free to write to us and we will try and put it up in future.

This week we have an exclusive article on the hottest issue throughout the nation..."CRICKET MATCH FIXING - A Different Perspective".

We live in a nation that is so diversified in terms of religion,culture,heritage & people . There may be mutual differences amonst us, whatever reasons they maybe for, but the sheer sense of true Indianness still thrives in our hearts. The same can be said about the sport of Cricket. It's not only our national sport, but it also means something to almost every Indian. Cricket is worshipped nothing less than a religion by the people...at least till now. It could be said that its the one thing almost all Indians are unanimously crazy about.

The recent hapennings in the history of cricket have almost completely shattered the very image of this sport. Shocking facts have been revealed which have kept not only our country but also the entire world wondering what might be in store for us in the future. This entire issue or "Match-Fixing", as they call it has totally changed the very nature of the sport. The so called "Icons" of the game have had their names coming up in this worst scandal that cricket has ever faced. Such names which we wouldn't even have imagined in our widest dreams have been alleged to be involved in this sad story. Men who have had been bestowed with great honours by the nation, who were worshipped as Demi-Gods, are today under the scrutiny of each and every individual in the world that has known them for all these years. It is a very sad state of affairs but then again its the truth and we cannot run away from truth or pretend denying it because its for real.

So, where does Cricket go on from here? That's the question that has been troubling our minds since this whole incident has started. Will it remain the same sport we admired and enjoyed for so many years? Or is it that we were just trying to follow a mirage in the vast desert sands? Were the heroes we cheered for and loved for so long really trying to live upto our expectations or were they just playing the sport not for the love of it but just for the sake of monetary interests? Accept it or not but it has been a complete breach of trust not only of the people but also of the country which we so proudly say that we are citizens of. Will people still be able to enjoy cricket after all this, knowing very well that they have been taken for a ride in the past?

We fail to understand why match-fixing came into existence in the first place and why is it that it has become deep-rooted in the sport by now? Is the greed for money among individuals so much that they are willing to sell not only themselves but also the pride and the diginity of the entire nation along with them? They have actually degraded cricket from being a healthy sport to the status of sports-entertainment like Wrestling for example, wherein each and every thing is already fixed even before it starts. This scandal has provided a great setback to the game which involved so much thrill and anxiety that a few people even have had cardiac-arrests during some close encounters. Such is the involvement of the general public which now feels so cheated and betrayed because of the actions of a few self-centered individuals.

It is said that a successful individual has a lot of foes both on the inside and outside. This runs quite parallel to cricket. The growing popularity of the sport in the last decade or so has inadvertently contributed to its very downfall. Cricket has been so commercialised in the name of globalisation that it is going from bad to worse, the less said the better.

It is now time for us, the people to understand the facts and to demand answers from the system which is so non-transparent. After all we have a right to know the truth. The entire sytem is needed to be analysed and if required reframed and restructured for the betterment of the game. The real culprits have to be, by any means possible, be brought to book and the game be cleared of this stigmatic situation once and for all or else the future isn't very bright. That is the best we can hope for...isn't it?

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