Malik, match-fixing and Pak cricket

P. Muraleedharan

After 8-years in the wilderness, Salim Malik is back in cricket, as a Lahore Court lifted the cricket-ban imposed on him by Justice Malik Qayyum in 2000, for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing racket. But, will this rehabilitation of the 45-year-old, one of the best batsmen in the world in his prime, help Pakistan cricket in anyway?

It has one positive fall-out: Match-fixing, the dreaded spectre of which has been haunting the international cricket for well over two decades, is back in the news. This time, as a painful reminder to the dangerous depths into which it had dragged the gentleman’s game in the recent past, and the tremendous ‘scope’ it has in the Twenty20 leagues. If patriotism is not strong enough to keep players away from the lure of the ‘filthy’ lucre, can the professional teams, run by private companies, stop them from falling for bribes to underperform and throw matches? The team owners, whose only god is Mammon, colluding to choreograph each and every move of the match, including the result, as in a WWE bout is another frightening probability! Going by the looks, that day is not too far away!

After the Mohali test, where Australia capitulated uncharacteristically to an aggressive India, one of my friends asked me, “Was the match fixed?” The question really shocked me. But, soon I realized: The impact that the match-fixing scandals has had on the cricket-lovers is so enormous that they suspect a rat even when there is no scope for one! So, for international cricket to come out of the sickening shadow of the ‘for sale’ tag, the ICC will have to devise something ingenious and drastic to lift the game above the reach of fixers, fraudsters and willing traitors. In the present scenario, where even World Cup matches seem pre-determined (Remember the finals of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbeans, the last overs of which were played out in the dark!), the ICC has a terrible road to traverse to reach cricket to safety!

True, match-fixing is no headache that can be fixed overnight. In such cases, finding evidence is the hardest part. So, even if everybody knows that money has changed hands and that Cricket and Honour have been short-changed in a particular incident, the same cannot be proved most of the time for lack of evidence. How can one distinguish between a poor performance and a deliberately below par one? In cricket, the game of glorious uncertainties, one cannot determine it that easily! But, in the Malik-case, Justice Qayyum had said, "There is clear evidence of match-fixing against Mr Salim Malik." The Justice had recommended life ban and Rs 1 m fine (£12,500) for Malik. It is this ban that has been overturned now.

Malik was the first international cricketer to be banned in connection with match-fixing. It was in 1995 that the allegations on the involvement of Malik in betting syndicates come out into the open. Tim May, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were the accusers. They alleged that Malik had offered them money to throw the Karachi test match between Australia and Pakistan (The match was won by Pakistan!). Later, in 1998, the Australian Cricket Board admitted that Warne and Waugh were secretly fined for accepting money from an Indian bookmaker during the same Pakistan tour (1994). The famous saying comes to mind: When you point your forefinger at somebody, the other four fingers are pointed at yourself!

During their next tour to South Africa (1995), Rashid Latif and Basit Ali resigned from the Pak team and headed back home, ostensibly, after a clash with Salim Malik, on match-fixing. Salim's ouster was not unexpected then. For, whenever the subject of match-fixing had come up for discussion, his name had figured prominently in them. But for the courage of Rashid Latif and the ‘original’ whistle-blower Sarfraz Nawaz, the dirty drama behind many an ‘unbelievable’ loss by the Pak national team would have remained under wraps. The latter had not spared even the ICC; he had accused that the committee is the fountain-head of the betting-mafia!

International cricketers are not just professionals engaged in a money-making sport. They represent their respective nations. Throwing matches for handsome bribes amount to treachery, there is no doubt on that. Having clean hands won’t do. The players and administrators should be above suspicion too. That is a small price to pay for the big privileges international cricketers enjoy these days. That is, even if Salim Malik is innocent of the charges that were leveled against him, he has sinned by giving more than enough reasons to doubt his integrity.
His rehabilitation would not help in restoring the faith in Pak Cricket, already tarnished by many a scandal, I am afraid.


http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1683783

Kangaroos ‘Chappelled’

By P.Muraleedharan

Greg Chappell has done it again. And with what efficiency! The best test team in the cricketing world has been reduced to a losing bunch of frustrated individuals, riven by discord and indiscipline. It seems, Team India should thank Chappell for making the tough as nails Aussies as vulnerable as Indians were when he was their coach!

The former India coach and the head of Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, is again in India as an advisor to the Kangaroos, to help them tackle the Indians more ‘professionally’.

Weren’t the Aussies overjoyed with this achievement! Pace man Brett Lee’s words sum up the feeling that the Aussie dressing room shared then. "We will definitely be picking his brains for every little bit of knowledge and experience he’s gained... I think he’ll be a very key member of the Australian team… He’s here and he’s wearing Australian colours. What he had done for the Indian players had been brilliant, but he’s moved on, taken up a new challenge and that’s great for us."

And what happened? The all-conquering Baggy Greens failed to capitalise on the upper hand they had in the Bangalore test. Their aggressive spirit, which was mocked at by Zaheer Khan, was sorely missing. In the second test, on a good batting wicket where the ball was coming to the blade nicely, Aussie batsman drew a blank. The team, known for totting up big scores at a brisk pace, was just occupying the crease as though they feared something dreadful might happen to them any time! Was that a Chappell-effect? By the end of third day, the ‘gritty’ Aussies were on the mat, psychologically.

There was another interesting side show. Brett Lee had an open spat with skipper Ricky Ponting as the fastest bowler in the world was not called for bowling at the Indians. Though things were patched up soon, it was evident that tension was simmering in the Aussie dressing room. Now, it almost resembles the Indian dressing room, when ‘Chappellji’ was at the helm.

In 2005, when he took over as the Indian coach for a princely remuneration of $1,75,000 per year, everybody felt, here was somebody who could take India to the top, overtaking Australia in the process. For, India had secured an honourable draw against a full-strength Australia in their back yard the previous year.

But, in a few months, the whole picture changed. He made the winningest Indian test captain, Sourav Ganguly, who was instrumental in making India a force to reckon with, a mental wreck and sowed the seeds of dissension in the dressing room. Indeed, he made laudable experiments, led India to a record 17 consecutive one-day victories when batting second. But, he made the team what it was before: Bully at home and chicken-hearted on foreign soil. Under Chappell, Indian away record was: 32 wins, 27 defeats. In tests, there was just a win worth remembering, the one at Port of Spain in West Indies.

A team, which was the runners up in 2003-World Cup, lost in the first round in the 2007 edition of World Cup under him. And the gentleman, who ruled Indian team with the skipper Dravid helplessly looking on, had the temerity to say that everybody in the team was responsible for the fiasco! He even suggested that senior players like Sachin Tendulkar did not show enough commitment, which comment had Sachin coming out openly against him. Anyway, he put in his papers soon after, before getting the sack.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar had said last year, after Chappell resigned from his post, “…at the end of his tenure, Indian cricket is down in the dumps with a first-round exit in the World Cup, and is fractured and divided as seldom before… The batting, which should have flourished under the guidance of someone recognised as one of the game's best batsmen, has looked tentative and unsure and has lost the spark that made India's cricket team such a must-see for cricket lovers.” And on his name being considered for the post of the head coach of the Australian Cricket Academy, Gavaskar said with typical sarcasm, "If true, then it could be the best thing that has happened for world cricket. Now even Ireland has a chance of beating Australia sooner rather than later.” Is that what is happening now? Gavaskar must be chuckling!

Team Australia is already down in the dumps. It will need nothing less than a miracle for them to even secure draws at the turners in Delhi and Kanpur. To make it happen, the die-hard Aussie spirit has to be revived. We, as cricket aficionados, look forward to that.

http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1684119

Spin Sunset!

By P.Muraleedharan

The word is out: India is no longer a spin-power in the sub-continent. And the cricketing world has already taken notice.

The result of the first test between India and Australia, held at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore last week, bears ample testimony to the disappointing decline in the abilities of the most potent spin-duo India has ever produced-Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. In the first innings against the Aussies, the slow bowling pair sent down 84 overs, gave away 232 runs…All for just one wicket! In the second innings, things were a little better. Harbhajan picked up two from 27 overs, while an injured Kumble bowled just 8 overs for no wicket.

Remember, this was a cracking wicket, though not exactly tailor-made for ‘spinquest’. True, India lost the toss, which made the Aussies comfortable in the first innings. But, it was obvious that they were shaking in their shoes at the prospect of facing Kumble’s frightfully accurate deliveries and the turbanator’s vicious turn on a cracking pitch. What happened was just the opposite: The seamers, Zaheer Khan and Ishanth Sharma proved to be dangerous while the spinners plied their trade as though they were just filling in as stock bowlers. The tweaker twosome, with 907 wickets between them, playing their 54th test match together, never really troubled the Aussie middle order.

While speaking about Kumble, one tends to remember his towering feats for the nation. The lion-hearted cricketer, arguably, is the best match winning bowler Indian test cricket has ever produced. And this is his only third test when he has gone wicketless. Dilip Vengsarkar has alleged that Kumble hid his injury before the Bangalore test. And Kumble says he got injured while bowling in the first innings at Bangalore. Whichever may be the truth, one thing is clear: In his prime, Kumble would have scythed through such an inexperienced line-up.

As for Bhajji, he has not been doing enough with the ball to merit a place in this Indian team. He has been resting on his laurels for quite a long time. That he batted briiliantly to bridge the gap between the Kangaroos in the first innings is surely worthy of credit. But, he is in the team because of being a bowler, not because of his duels with Andrew Symonds nor due to his batting prowess. With talented youngsters like Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla knocking at the doors, it is time the selectors took a long, hard look at the spin department.

But, the signs of the approaching sunset was already visible when the Indian duo failed miserably in Sri Lanka to master Muthaih Muralitharan and his disciple Ajantha Mendis. If anybody thought it was just a flash in the pan, Bangalore test is more than enough to make them change their minds.

As Anil said on Wednesday, he should be allowed to go out on his own terms. But, if his career can be prolonged by a couple of years with a few weeks’ rest, shouldn’t we go for that? This is not just the time for sentiments! If need be, the selectors should show the way and make sure that only a fit Kumble would play the second test in Mohali. As for Bhajji, it is time he makes way for a quality spinner!

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