Cricket, the quintessential Gentleman’s Game, has been in the news off late for all the wrong reason. Infact over the last decade and half, from time to time, the game has been plagued with some or the other match fixing allegations. Frankly, cricket has never been the same for me since the day the news broke that Hansie Cronje was guilty of match fixing. When I first heard the news I dismissed it as some journo creating some sensation to get attention. But when Hansie Cronje, who for me was a genuinely upright gentleman, himself confessed, it just killed the passion that I had for the sport. Ever since, I doubt if I have watched any match completely. I just can’t. A far cry of my childhood days when me and my cousins / classmates set up alarms to get up at 4 odd am to watch matches in Australia.

Today, I just about manage to keep a check on the results of matches so that I don’t feel like a complete outsider in tea time banter in office. These last few days, the spot fixing scandal has once again bitterly bruised the game. Nowadays there can be no discussion on the game without someone bringing up the topic of fixing. Just yesterday, I saw this clip of Kohli being hit on the helmet by a brilliant delivery, and than there was a tweet I saw that read like this

Kohli just used a helmet to hit the ball. Super shady.

— Apropos of Nothing (@sidin) June 6, 2013

So basically, what looked to be a great cricketing moment, due to these scandals, has been reduced to something that can be ridiculed. Infact, I am sure, if you were to bring this up in a chat in a group of friends, there will be at least one who would cheekily link it to some fixing comment. That’s what this gentleman’s game has been reduced to thanks to the greed of a few people who either play or administer the game. You and me might brush this fixing saga and get on with other sports, but I often feel sorry of that school kid who loves the game, and who idolized Sreesanth or Azharuddin, or Jadeja, but today has to shy away from discussing this sport with his colleagues for the fear of being ridiculed for idolizing a cheat!