In this whole IPL betting/fixing fiasco, somethings aren't adding up for me. Here they are
#1: What is worse? Betting or Fixing? Both are terrible, but in my view, fixing is worse. Because it has the potential to alter the outcome of a game. Betting, while also illegal should be a lesser offence because you are not actually cheating someone out of their hard earned money or earning money to do something that goes against what you have been hired to do in the first place (get runs/wickets for your franchise and help them win matches). Now against Gurunath, there are only allegations of betting not fixing. I say this based on media reports and the fact that no one else from the CSK team has been called in for questioning. Admittedly he has confessed to trading some insider info about line up etc but still, but even that doesn't constitute as "fixing" unless he deliberately asked for the line up to be changed expressly for the purpose of his betting etc. Considering the amount of money generated by IPL in terms of brand valuations, sponsorships, ticket sales etc, where he would be a beneficiary (as someone whose wife and father-in-law are shareholders of India Cements) he would have to be out of his mind to jeopardize victory for the team- and even if he was, the fact that we came up to the finals means that he didn't enjoy any measure of success.
So while he must be punished for his offences, why on earth is every former BCCI president, politician, local tea kadai guy, and anyone else looking for their 10 seconds of fame on national television saying CSK should be scrapped?
What am i missing here?
#2: If he really was so much of a betting super star who was privy to all info, then how come he lost nearly Rs.1 Crore? It seems to me like he really wans't privy to as much insider info as he thought he was.And also, whoever are the people who won the Rs.1 Cr that this guy lost? Is anyone even looking for them?
#3: Everyone is focusing on getting N Srinivasan kicked out of the BCCI/resign. If ensuring that betting / fixing does not happen is indeed the sole/primary objective of that body and they have been given adequate powers to stop that, then certainly he must step down. But what about the perpetrators of the crime? What about all the bookies? All the players involved not just in IPL but in other tournaments too ? So far they have arrested a handful of bookies and 3 players (all of whom are no-consequence players in any case). If that's all there is to find in this entire issue, its a shame to waste so much of the public's time on it no? In the meanwhile, everyone is acting as if victory is at hand, because tomorrow N. Srinivasan is supposed to step down/step aside.. do step step dance.. whatever. This is like arresting a traffic commissioner sitting in his office for everyone (including his son-in-law) jumping the red light and then saying that justice has been restored and that there will be no more road accidents in the country!
#4: What also amazes me is that the press is making the BCCI out to be some super murky Freemason type institution shrouded in secrecy with not even an attempt at democracy, and therefore needs to be brought into RTI etc. Now tell me, if they can get info about how many people attended which meetings, how many people went to the bathroom, who winked at whom etc, why try for RTI, it is far more bureaucratic than this mysterious source. Also, is someone investigating who this source is? It should be against intitutional rules no? To keep leaking confidential info on a regular basis? And aren't the press breaking any rules by abetting such a crime?
I have many more doubts, including why the human race even considers the Brinjal to be a vegetable, when it looks like goo, tastes like goo and has the same nutritional value as goo. But we will save them for a later post okay?
