JOIN USKPL scandal shocks Karnataka stalwarts
Last month, when the KPL spot-fixing and the betting scandal was unravelling, the newly-elected Karnataka State Cricket Association president Roger Binny, in an interview to DH, had expressed his relief that no player was involved in the murky dealings.
Since then, however, half a dozen players, including a former State captain, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the scandal that has hurt the clean image of Karnataka cricket. Binny, a man of integrity, must have been pained by these developments. In fact, every single stakeholder - from players to fans to administrators - in State cricket will have felt a sense of shame by the corrupt practices of a few greedy individuals.
At the height of match-fixing scam in 2000 when Sourav Ganguly took over as the captain, it was the presence of a few cricketers, whose integrity was unquestionable, that had helped the game regain fans' respect. Among them were Karnataka's very own, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad among others.
Today, those cricketers are feeling let down by a few from their younger generation, to say the least.
"Very disappointing that someone that senior... I don't understand what's going on," said Kumble while reacting to the arrest of former Karnataka wicketkeeper-batsman C M Gautam who was reportedly paid Rs 20 lakh to bat in a particular way in this year’s KPL final.
"You don't expect senior cricketers who have been there and seen it all (to get into these things). They are the role models and you want them to be the guardians of the game.
"(But) If you see here, owners are also involved (Belagavi Panthers' owner Ali Asfak Thara has been arrested and the team has been suspended by KSCA) and I think that perhaps gives them (players) a feeling of immunity. But then it's crazy to think that way... I don't know, it's very disappointing."
Recently, Sunil Gavaskar stated that human greed was the main reason behind such acts of a misdemeanour.
"Greed is such a thing that no amount of education, guidance, seminars with anti-corruption guys is going to be enough,” he had said while reacting to alleged incidents of corruption in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association-run TNPL and KPL.
While agreeing with Gavaskar's views, Kumble demanded that organisers should ensure the right people come on board.
"You will have to be more strict obviously," he emphasised. "You have to do your due diligence on people who are involved in the tournament, be it an owner or any stakeholder. Try and put stringent measures. I am sure there are measures in place but still, such incidents are happening means people need to do serious introspection.
"At the end of the day, it's the fence that you put around and how you monitor. I think that's critical, maybe that needs to be revisited and done in a manner which discourages people (from involving in such activities). And you need like-minded people to come on board to develop the game, but if there are motives like this... I mean if the owner is involved, then his motive to come into the league obviously is to do this type of shady business," said the former KSCA president.
In the light of the scandal, it's pertinent to recall a conversation between this correspondent in 2012 and Srinath, the then secretary of the association. The former India paceman had made his reservations clear about exposing young cricketers to shorter format and big money.
"Shorter format denies youngsters the rich experience of real cricket while the introduction of money at an early stage of a cricketer's life can bring a false sense of worth and thereby confusing him about his own talent.
"The worst part is that disparity in payment amongst kids might not foster great habits aligning with the sport."
If sources associated with the investigation by CCB are to be believed there are more disturbing revelations in store.
“It’s sad and disappointing,” said former India paceman Prasad. “The image of the State cricket has definitely taken some beating because of this scandal. If you see our legacy, it's spotless. We have produced some of the finest cricketers who have been perfect role models. But because of a few isolated incidents like this, one can’t associate them with the cricketing fraternity in the State,” said another India pacer Venkatesh Prasad
While such leagues may serve the limited purpose of unearthing a few unknown talents the potential for harm is monumental.