Despite confessions made in varying degrees to charges of spot-fixing, it has now transpired that Gurunath Meiyappan of the Chennai Super Kings and Raj Kundra of the Rajasthan Royals are definitely not betting men. Their reputation is unsullied.
This is the conclusion offered by the two-man panel, appointed ironically by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), to probe issues involving the BCCI. The findings will restore president N. Srinivasan back into his chair with his reputation intact. Charges of conflict of interest labelled against him no longer have merit.
The proceedings can be dubbed as a farce. There is the threat of cricket imploding in India, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is the centre of much controversy following charges of spot-fixing, match-fixing and the involvement of the underworld in facilitating murky deals. The genie is out of the bottle and cannot be pushed back.
The inability to take concrete action against its own will come back to haunt the BCCI. The probe was concluded following lack of evidence — only because the BCCI had failed to supply it.
