It is a matter of great relief to see that the Indian
players who were involved in match fixing have been
finally exposed!
What is startling is the fact that Manoj Prabhakar who
played a pivotal role in busting this racket is
himself involved in it! Perhaps he felt that by
playing the role of a "cricket sleuth", he may stop
the needle of suspicion from pointing towards him
which apparently backfired.
As for as Kapil Dev, there could not have been no
better news than being acquitted of all the charges
levelled against him by Prabhakar. No one would now
ever impeach his commitment and dedication he
possessed towards his game and country which was at
stake following the allegations made by Prabhakar.
Azharuddin should be ashamed of himself for passing
such a statement that he is being targeted for
belonging to the minority community when he was
actually guilty of fixing matches. It is sad to see
that a player who had such a brilliant start to his
career with a record-breaking three consecutive test
centuries in his debut series against England should
make such a disgraceful exit.
Ajay Jadeja was considered one of the most ideal
batsmen for the slog overs with his ability to clear
the boundary especially after his memorable knock
against Pakistan in the quarter-final of the 1996
World Cup. Who knew that an ever so cheerful and
agile player like him would also have a hand in the
deplorable match-fixing scandal?
Ajay Sharma did not play much of a part in
international cricket but he could be described as a
"behind the wicket" player who decided India's fate in
a match with his illicit contact with the bookies.
Ironically, he enjoys an excellent record in
first-class cricket.
The CBI should reveal more. Like, from Prabhakar's
tapes, it is evident that many prominent players were
aware of what was going on in the Indian team but
preferred to keep quiet. If this is true, then all of
them are guilty and deserve punishment for allowing
their colleagues to betray their country. We would
like to know the source from where many of the
cricketers who have been given a clean chit in this
scandal amassed huge amounts of wealth during their
cricketing career. What about the Sunil Gavaskar
Bombay Gymkhana locker case? Also, the CBI should
reveal the details of all those matches, which these
players fixed and brought much disgrace to the
country. This cricket-crazy nation just deserves to
know everything.