Let's Get Real

"Oh Amir, how could you?", "What were they thinking", "They sold out". Add a thousand lines and it still doesn't make a difference. Everyone thought this was happening, no one could prove it. Now there's some proof (allegedly) and people are asking boards and cricketers to prove they're innocent because "We pay our good money to watch these guys play".

Oh and this isn't confined to cricket. NBA fans get all rabid at the business end of every season despite a former referee's claims that he was asked to call games a certain way to ensure series went the distance. Baseball fans in New York and Boston are crazy about their teams even though some of the greatest names in the history of their franchises were on Performance Enhancing Drugs. Pete Rose, the all-time hit leader in the history of Major League Baseball is banned from even entering a Major League ballpark. His absence from the Baseball Hall of Fame still attracts criticism but the league won't bestow up him that honour. It remains to be seen if the likes of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens will make it to Cooperstown. While the sport isn't as popular as it was a few years ago, it still enjoys a big enough status for players to earn 8-figure salaries.

Cricket deals with such issues rather leniently. Cricket South Africa retired Cronje's jersey number. Kapil Dev has made it to the Hall of Fame, as has Wasim Akram after Justice Qayyum let him off because he had a soft corner for the fast bowler. Cricket Australia banned Shane Warne for 12 months when he tested positive for a diuretic at the 2003 World Cup. The legspinner didn't play a single ICC event after his comeback as he decided to concentrate on test cricket. Many consider him the greatest spinner in the history of cricket. The PCB banned and then reinstated Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif when they tested positive for Nandrolone in 2006. Why? Apparently they were tested under the PCB banner and not by the ICC, so it was the PCB rule book that applied. The rule book said a player who was unaware of what he was taking could be pardoned, hence Akhtar and Asif were let off. The whole of Pakistan rejoiced. Five months later both of them were declared unfit for the ODI World Cup, a tournament where WADA was the authority conducting the tests. Yesterday some Pakistani fans were trying to assuage their fears by saying the players had done it for the flood victims.

How would people react if Sachin Tendulkar were suspected of being involved in some form of fixing? What if he tested positive for a banned substance? Do you really think fans would ever believe it even if the truth hit them in the face? I have already heard former cricketers act scandalised at the mention of match-fixing, asking if Tendulkar would ever do it because they know no one would have the balls to even explore the possibility of it happening.

So let's just admit we're suckers for cricket. We didn't stop watching the sport when India's greatest allrounder cried crocodile tears on national television. We laughed and cried with our teams even after Hansie Cronje admitted to fixing games. And we sure as bloody hell aren't going to miss the two-test series between India and Australia. Enough of the sanctimonious articles asking for an overhaul. Enough of feeling devastated by an 18-year old sensation allegedly bowling no balls on demand. This will continue and we will continue waking up at odd hours to watch what might be an 11 on 11 tag team match right out of the Vince McMahon's group of creative writers.

Trust is the biggest ingredient of any healthy relationship. It holds true for that between a sport and its fans as well. But how many times have we allowed players to betray our trust? We must be idiots of the worst kind to let bookies, agents, officials, players take us for granted time and time again. There is a remote in our living room and none of these people can force us to use it to make ourselves heard. Do we use it? Only when we've sufficiently gratified the masochist in us.

India Kiss Goodbye to Potential Medals at Asian Games

The BCCI has taken it upon itself to not send either a men's or women's team for the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou from November 12 to 27. This is the official line from the board:

"We would not be able to send our team, both men and women, for the Asian Games in China because of international commitments," the BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said in Mumbai. "We have communicated the same to the Indian Olympic Association."

The news of India not sending a team to the Asian Games came out last night. Yet, none of the TV channels have picked up on it. Come the Asian Games they'll lament the lack of gold medals. Wonder what's stopping them from taking up this issue before the games.

Right. We're hosting New Zealand for a full series in November. The Kiwis haven't toured India since 2003 so it's quite right for the BCCI to not scrap a series against them. Not like they can, they haven't hosted New Zealand for this FTP cycle. I checked the upcoming fixtures for India and New Zealand and as of now there is nothing scheduled for players of either team from September until the 2011 World Cup. It's probably because the itinerary for these teams hasn't been finalised. We know India are playing Australia right after the Champions League and will tour South Africa after the home series against New Zealand. Also, the Kiwis are touring Bangladesh for two tests and three ODIs. This only leaves the month of November for the series against the Kiwis. But why exactly are we playing Australia again? We've already hosted them for two ODI series and a test series during this FTP cycle. It's just an arrangement between the two boards whereby they'll flog this rivalry till nobody is interested. Bit like the scores of ODIs we've played against Sri Lanka since 2008. Even New Zealand toured Bangladesh in October 2008, so why are they touring the country again this year?

Does it really make any sense to be playing some teams way more often that required? Not really. But this is what you get when boards are only looking after their own interests, not that the BCCI is the only guilty party here. The people won't care, they get to see their players frequently. It's not like there's much else to watch on television anyway.

This is just about the men's team. What about the women? Considering their performance at the world stage they should be a shoo-in for the gold at the Asian Games. Again, I'm not aware of the ladies being tied up in a series during the Asian Games.

The board continues to enjoy huge tax exemptions from the central and state governments, has control of stadia at dirt cheap rates and is provided free security from state police. It's quite obvious this shouldn't be happening, more so now that the BCCI has refused to send its players to the Asian Games. But how can this change when you have so many politicians involved with the BCCI?

And what about the players? We hear them talk about how much pride they feel in playing for their country. Why hasn't a single cricketer - current of former - come out and said the BCCI should be sending its players to Guangzhou? Surely this will increase the suspicion on them for taking performance enhancing substances. First they refused to accept the controversial whereabouts clause and now they've been silent over their non-participation at an event that is likely to be the subject of a lot of testing.