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A Guide to Crooked Cricket

Mo re by the autho r >
Phot o: Vijay Pand e y

James Pycrof t, in his 1851 book, The Cricket Field, noted how two rogues were brawling at Lords over matters pertaining to money and cricket. You had 20 to lose the Kent match, bowling long leg hops and missing catches, a player says, with the other responding, And you were paid to lose at Swaf f ham. T he f inal word comes f rom the f irst chap: Why did that game with Surrey turn about three runs to get, and you didnt make them? So the next person who moans about how T he Gentlemans Game has reached new levels of perf idy will receive one tight slap f rom me. Until the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association was elevated to the post of the head of the BJPs National Election Campaign Committee, the most eagerly f ollowed running commentary f or us slappers and clappers was the gush-f eed of IPL news. On 16 May, three cricketers were hauled up f or spot-f ixing. T his essentially was a conf irmation that in exchange f or money, certain actions in a skill-based sport were being orchestrated according to the less random f orces of supply-demand economics. Reams have been written and hours aired about the noxious f umes of greed and terrible aesthetics waf ting in f rom IPL af f airs. How the root of all evil is dancing girls with pom-poms and laughing rich people in the stands requires a proper sociological study. Never since 1517 when ninety-f ive theses against the corruption of the Catholic Church were nailed on to the door of a church in Wittenberg has there been such a wave of moral indignation against a religion made obscene. For a short while, outrage against crooked cricket ousted cricket as the nations f avourite pastime. But how outraged is the laity, the vast sea of spectators f or whom Wisden is the name of a residential high-rise in Gurgaon and Gentleman is what Raju ultimately became? IPL, the most lucrative brand of Twenty20 cricket on the planet, has Bollywood kitsch as its residing stylist. If matters such as conf lict of interest involving not only the BCCI chief , but also the beloved national cricket captain, not to mention the respected T V commentators are a matter of concern f or prof essional mutterers of concern, does the laity really care? If IPL team owners bet either against or f or their teams, does that dampen the Diwalistyle f estivities built around an almost two months-long glitzed-out version of gulli cricket? What news tumbling f rom IPL closets provide is a parallel source of entertainment, quite like the cinema news about whos sleeping- with-whom in tinsel town. In certain circles, moral bearings and aesthetic tastes are now being measured and moulded by how much one abhors this tawdry spectacle. Purists which these days include one-day cricket enthusiasts cant f athom why the game needed more entertainment in the f irst place. Isnt there enough Wordsworthian beauty to be marvelled at during a postlunch session on the third day of a Test match? If the rabble doesnt care f or real cricket, why couldnt they stick to the pig-sticking pleasures of Nach Baliye? But entertainment-seeking humans have a delightf ul capacity not only to consume entertainment in the unlikeliest of places, they also show a remarkable tendency to enjoy damaged versions of originals. So when MS Dhoni thwacked the second and third delivery of the last over in the IPL f inal against Mumbai Indians f or two consecutive sixes, despite the game having already been lost, there was a parallel thrill of wondering whether the two f inal heaves were part of a mini-script. What IPL spectators can now relish is not only two teams battling it out f or victory, but also the pleasure of the Hmm, I wonder f actor that comes while watching each stroke, each delivery, each act of f ielding and other tiny details within an evenings show. Crickets gone pointillistic.

So if you think that the only intention f or players in an IPL match is to win or perf orm ones best youre really mixing it up with the other entertaining sport: cricket. Dont worry. Such conf usion doesnt merit a slap. Lets instead have a ginntonic and talk about that glorious Vinoo Mankad-Pankaj Roy 413 runs opening partnership against New Z ealand in Madras in January 1956. letters@tehelka.com