Pakistan cricket jolted by match-fixing scandal again!

Pakistan’s England tour seems to have the habit of being marred by controversies. This time it’s not an on-field affair but an off-field one. It’s that ghost of match-fixing that had been haunting Pakistan cricket for the past two decades has jolted not only Pakistan cricket but world cricket as well.

Pakistan cricket over the years have been plagued by various controversies. The captaincy saga, rifts inside the team, security concerns, drug scandals match-fixing and so on. But among them the match-fixing saga seems to be the biggest demons of all. Time and again it has dented Pakistan’s image severely.

The recent bomb shell was hit by the release of a video, which was recorded secretly, revealed that a man alleged to be Mazhar Majid clearly heard predicting Mohammad Amir to open the bowling and to bowl a no-ball from the first ball of the third over which as cricinfo ball by ball commentary noted: “Was an enormous no-ball good half meter over the line.”

The man also appeared to correctly predict a no-ball from the sixth ball of the tenth over bowled this time by Mohammad Asif. Other newspaper’s reports also accuse the Pakistan Captain Salman Butt and wicket-keeper Kamral Akmal. Police arrested Mazhar Majid yesterday.

Such an incident is very sad indeed for a flood affected nation whose main source of joy is the Pakistan team’s good performance, but this sort of mean acts have let the fans in Pakistan and the fans outside Pakistan down. Greed seems to be more important than the country and fans.

Plenty of investigating committees had been made in Pakistan to eradicate this match- fixing saga once and for all. The PCB said in the past that the ghost had been eliminated from Pakistan cricket. But it seems that the PCB had only swept things under the carpet and for which this ghost tends to show up again and again.

I see a very dark future coming ahead. Pakistan cricket have been turned upside down. The criminals must be punished and this time around problems should be solved completely.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

     

Sri Lanka v India - Let's move forward with cricket

Virender Sehwag was batting on 99 and India needed just one run to win the match in the 3rd match of the Micro-max tri-nation tournament at Dambulla against Sri Lanka. But in the third ball of the 35th over, Suraj Randiv bowled a ‘big’ no-ball and Sehwag hit a six to end up the match in style. Sadly, Sehwag wasn’t given the century officially as the no-ball was called early and he had to remain not out at 99.

“Yes it was done deliberately”, Sehwag said after the match and added “Because (of the size of the no-ball)  ...that much from the crease. Till now in Test matches he hasn’t bowled a no-ball (Randiv bowled two no-balls overall in the Test series ), he hasn’t bowled a no-ball in One-day cricket, on 99 only why did he bowl a no-ball ? And not a small no-ball, not a small margin, from one-foot ahead.” And the controversy started.

The next day Suraj Randiv went to Sehwag’s hotel room and apologized for his unsporting behavior which Sehwag tweeted from his twitter account. “Today in the morning, Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga called me up expressing his regret about yesterday's no-ball incident. He expressed his regret officially and asked me to convey it to the Indian team, particularly to Sehwag. They have also assured that they will look into the matter officially, why it happened and correct the procedure.” Randiv said to Cricinfo. The apology should have ended things but the print and electronic media are just making things worse.

I can’t praise Randiv’s act but what the media are doing is nothing but irritating. They are making things very much ugly and I don’t think it should be done to spread bad blood among two great cricket playing nation.

I say we had enough of this. If the guilty person says sorry for his act then the matter discloses automatically. The Indian fans are regretting of Sehwag’s hundred but for the man who missed the hundred it’s isn’t a big miss. If any cricketer in the world at present doesn’t regret missing a hundred then that is Virender Sehwag. The Indian fans must rejoice the win and with the fact that Veeru is back in form in the ODIs. So, it’s better to drop the matter and move forward and enjoy cricket.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Welcome Lance Klusener

Lance Klusener is suppose to take as the bowling coach of the Bangladesh cricket team. Without a doubt Lance Klusener had been a very entertaining and effective cricketer during his time. But as a coach his journey has just started and in that sense he is still a novice as a coach.

The Bangladesh cricket team, I think, needs an experienced coach. Names like Graham Dilley and Andrew Caddick were heard. Graham Dilley as a bowling coach would have been perfect as he is quite experienced enough as a bowling coach.

Pace bowling is a big worry for Bangladesh. It needs the guidence of someone experienced. How well Lankce Klusener fare in Bangladesh only time will tell. But let us be optimistic and welcome him.

Thank You
Faisal Caesar