The sacrifice of pawns
The BCCI has meted out exemplary punishment to the five offending players for indulging in spot-fixing and other corrupt practices
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
The BCCI has meted out exemplary punishment to the five offending players for indulging in spot-fixing and other corrupt practices. While this appears to be a clear signal being sent that the board is serious about cleaning up the game, Santosh Desai in the Times of India queries whether it really is so.
What seems like transparent and firm action against erring players does on closer examination seem like a potential cover-up. The strategy adopted seems to be to sacrifice the indefensible transgressions of minor players with spectacular flamboyance, club together a variety of offences under the label of spot-fixing so as to escape closer scrutiny, transfer the responsibility for any irregularity squarely on the players rather than the teams, and give a clear signal to everyone else in the system that talking about any wrong-doing will attract the strictest punishment.
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo