It is not the first time in the history that a profession has been marred with allegations of involvement of unaccounted and illegal money. That too in particular, sports, a physical activity involving extreme amount of talent, character, discipline, dedication and all those positive traits to excel at the international level. There have been cases of sportsmen tested positive for drugs. Match fixing has been Cricket’s oldest and worst enemy ever seen. It has the money and power to pull any player towards it. But as a Cricket lover I ask the question, does it matter above a Cricketer’s talent? With so much being alleged on Mohammed Amir, I as a Cricket lover, feel that a brilliant talent is being put under jeopardy. Fast bowling talent has been the biggest asset of Pakistan Cricket. They are the answer from the subcontinent to the bouncy tracks of Perth, Durban, Lords, Jamaica etc. Mohammed Amir is 18 and his career statistics in Tests reads something like this - 14 Tests, 51 wickets, best-6/84, 3 5-wicket hauls. Now just imagine what his statistics will read at this rate when he will be 30. Such figures what gives the game of Cricket its identity. I repeat. Not players but first comes the figures and statistics. It is because of the statistics the Bradmans, Tendulkars, Dravids, etc will remain some of the biggest legends of Cricket. But my key point here is whether all the events that happened in the past few days with the match fixing allegations, going to ruin the game? Definitely not. No match fixing incidents can come closer to a Tendulkar’s straight drive, a Wasim Akram’s s inswinger, a Jhonty Rhodes’ dive catch, the last ball six and win thrill, the world cup wins for a team etc. I am so much concerned for Mohammed Amir’s Cricket future that I don’t even bother about the rest of the 2 players facing the same allegations. May be all of them are equally innocent or equally guilty. But Cricket needs talents like Mohammed Amir. As a Cricket lover I can meet my selfish ends when I see a face to face challenge between a Tendulkar or a Sehwag and Mohammed Amir. Well, that’s Cricket folks. We need that drama. What is wrong in it and which sport is devoid of such dramas? If Cricket is like a dish then the term ‘traditional rivalry’ is like a masala (spice). Cricket haters and Cricket lovers live with the same emotion. But those who are in during lets say a T-20 or a one day thriller and then curse the game when there are incidences of match fixing must realize just one simple fact. Any extremely popular or a huge money involving business is equally vulnerable in terms of its reputation. Did Satyam’s scam put an end to the IT business? Did Indian films stop doing lucrative business even after a proven underworld funding of films? No. Then why Cricket? The best answer that Cricket can give to such match fixing incidents is to popularize the game multifolds. Every player getting selected in that playing 11 and representing their country must realize what it takes and what it means to be a part of such a group.
So bottomline: whatever happens THE SHOW MUST GO ON.
