Pakistan cricket has never been short of controversies and allegations. Some might not remember allegations of match fixing against the team goes as back as 1979-80. But the loudest of the scams came in 1994 that led to the setting up of the Qayyam commission which indicting the all time greats of Pakistan cricket Salim Malik, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis (who is the coach today) , Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Mustaq Ahmed. The story isnt really complete upto here.
It is not very long since we found the Indian cricketers under a match-fixing scanner (mind you, this is a much more serious allegation. And in the particular case of the Indian subcontinent an offence not any less than treason! ) And like this time, it was directly mapped to the then India captain Md. Azharuddin.
And also, the bookies who are revealed by players around the globe seem to be of South Asian origin- in particular Indian or Pakistani!
It is definitely hard to believe that cricket excluding these two countries is pristine with purity of a gentleman´s game! However there is also much to investigate whether the perpetuators of these activities are actually from the same flock!
Ahmer Naqvi, a former journalist from Pakistan says ´Over the past few years, our screens have been awash with images both gruesome and depressing in equal measures. And they have been punctually followed by television anchors and television politicians blaming India, Israel, CIA, NASA and any other bogeyman you can think of – as long as the perpetrators weren’t one of us.... It’s the unfair pay-cheques, the IPL bans, the lack of education, the War on Terror, the colonial prejudices.´
But one thing is certain, in both these countries we do not hold such punishments to the highest order of ethical blackmarking. Clearly evident from the fact that Md.Azharuddin is a Member of the Indian parliament (elected by the people!), Ajay Jadeja is a sports analyst with India´s leading news channel and appears everyday on screen to face the people and Manoj Prabhakar is the coach for Delhi cricket team. In Pakistan also, the life ban on Ata-ur-Rehman and Salim Malik was overturned.
Is it something that is ingrained in our society. Something that flourishes through our chor bazaars, foreign markets and pirated movies and CDs.? Something to do with the ´there is always more than one way to get it done´ philosophy that we embrace in the subcontinent to overcome our development issues on a daily basis? Something to ponder about I guess...
It is not very long since we found the Indian cricketers under a match-fixing scanner (mind you, this is a much more serious allegation. And in the particular case of the Indian subcontinent an offence not any less than treason! ) And like this time, it was directly mapped to the then India captain Md. Azharuddin.
And also, the bookies who are revealed by players around the globe seem to be of South Asian origin- in particular Indian or Pakistani!
It is definitely hard to believe that cricket excluding these two countries is pristine with purity of a gentleman´s game! However there is also much to investigate whether the perpetuators of these activities are actually from the same flock!
Ahmer Naqvi, a former journalist from Pakistan says ´Over the past few years, our screens have been awash with images both gruesome and depressing in equal measures. And they have been punctually followed by television anchors and television politicians blaming India, Israel, CIA, NASA and any other bogeyman you can think of – as long as the perpetrators weren’t one of us.... It’s the unfair pay-cheques, the IPL bans, the lack of education, the War on Terror, the colonial prejudices.´
But one thing is certain, in both these countries we do not hold such punishments to the highest order of ethical blackmarking. Clearly evident from the fact that Md.Azharuddin is a Member of the Indian parliament (elected by the people!), Ajay Jadeja is a sports analyst with India´s leading news channel and appears everyday on screen to face the people and Manoj Prabhakar is the coach for Delhi cricket team. In Pakistan also, the life ban on Ata-ur-Rehman and Salim Malik was overturned.
Is it something that is ingrained in our society. Something that flourishes through our chor bazaars, foreign markets and pirated movies and CDs.? Something to do with the ´there is always more than one way to get it done´ philosophy that we embrace in the subcontinent to overcome our development issues on a daily basis? Something to ponder about I guess...
