Some pin the behaviour in the Harbhajan-Sreesanth Slapgate to big bucks, which turned young men arrogant and irresponsible. Nevertheless, the antics of IPL cricket players have helped to add more appeal to the games.
IT IS probably the costliest slap in the history of Indian cricket. Never before had Indian cricketers raked in so much moolah that a lone player could be made to forgo nearly 30 million rupees (RM2.3mil) in penalty and match fees for venting his angry spleen against a fellow cricketer.
Cricket, after all, is a goldmine for players. Neither the slapper nor the slapped would like to harp on that ugly incident any longer. As for the bosses of Indian cricket, well, after apportioning blame and penalising the errant player, they have proceeded ahead with the on-going Indian Premier League (IPL) in the belief that the promised dose of daily entertainment under no circumstances should be denied to a billion-plus fans.
It is business as usual for the biggest show in town, and there is no denying its super-duper success. The on- and off-field antics of players abusing and slapping one another on television have only helped to add further to the appeal of the IPL games. For the media, the Harbhajan-Sreesanth Slapgate generated bold headlines. Television viewership for IPL matches immediately after Slapgate registered a sharp spike.
The tell-tale photo of the Kerala quickie 25-year-old Shanthakumaran Sreesanth crying like a child after Punjab off-spinner 27-year-old Harbhajan Singh Puri gave him one hard one across his right cheek was on page one of every small and big paper the next morning.
And every television channel beamed that picture ad nauseam to millions of homes to keep the most ugly incident yet in Indian cricket alive. But the IPL organisers were anxious to dispose of the violent business involving two of Indian cricket’s top players in a great hurry in order to get on with their planned schedule. A hurriedly-constituted inquiry committee found the off-spinner, captaining the Mumbai Indians in the absence of ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar, guilty and ordered his suspension for 11 IPL matches.
Besides, it forfeited Harbhajan Singh’s fees for the Mohali match during which he slapped the Kings Eleven Punjab’s pacer. The recipient of Harbhajan Singh’s sharp blow did not escape unscathed either. He was warned and put on notice by the IPL inquiry committee.
What led to the violent outburst is still shrouded in mystery. The IPL refused to shed light on the issue.
But, gleaning through various reports, it is clear that Sreesanth had needled the Mumbai Indians captain all through the match, which his team Kings Eleven Punjab eventually went on to win by a convincing 66-run margin.
This was the third loss in a row for Mumbai Indians under Harbhajan Singh.
At the customary handshake with one another at the end of each match, Sreesanth riled the Mumbai Indians stand-in captain yet again, saying “tough luck, better luck next time”. This was the trigger that caused the angry Sikh to blow his fuse. Even though the inquiry committee banned Harbhajan Singh, he was not entirely to blame.
One of the two field umpires who had officiated that fateful match in Mohali in Punjab disclosed that he and his colleague had repeatedly warned Sreesanth against his verbal assaults on players of the opposite team, Harbhajan Singh being among his victims.
Incidentally, the umpire was banned for two matches for speaking to the media instead of complaining about Sreesanth in his report to the match committee. Given Harbhajan Singh’s run-ins with other players and the authorities in the past, there is no denying that he has an attitude problem. Some ascribed such bad behaviour to big bucks, which turned young men hardly out of their teens arrogant and irresponsible for their actions.
Generally coming from poor and low-income groups, these talented young cricketers find it hard to cope with their mega success overnight, reasoned a prominent psychoanalyst.
The absence of proper guidance by senior players was another reason. More than one former captain argued that Harbhajan Singh became what he was because his first couple of captains in the mid-90s had failed to instil in him the need for mental discipline and gentlemanly conduct on and off field. Indeed, he got away virtually scot-free after his alleged racist remark against Andrew Symonds earlier this year in the Sydney Test due to the active support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India which, given its huge financial clout, has begun to call the shots in the affairs of the International Cricket Council, the world governing body of the game.
His offensive antics directed at the host team after the Indians had squared the three-Test series, too, left a bad taste in the mouth of everyone who wistfully pined for yesteryears, when cricket was a gentleman’s game played by men in white over a course of five leisurely days in three daily sessions each.
Now, it is a slap-bang Twenty:20 gladiatorial confrontation, with tonnes of telecast rights and sponsors’ money at stake. It is notable that the winner of the IPL championship will be richer by nearly 50 million rupees (RM3.9mil) while the runner-up will get half that amount.
The purse in the eight-team IPL depends on the standing of each team in the tournament. But so rich is Indian cricket that even the team that ends up at the bottom of the league will walk away with a cheque for four million rupees (RM308,000).
No wonder they treat the game of cricket as a matter of life and death.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment