Legitimacy of IPL thrown in doubt

Once again, the highly popular Indian Premier League (IPL) has been rocked by shock waves of spot-fixing. This throws into doubt the legitimacy of a tournament which is on the verge of concluding its sixth edition. Throughout each edition, the IPL has never been short on controversy. Allegations that numerous games have been fixed in the past continue to abound. Matters have now reached a peak with the sensational announcement by Delhi Police that a former Indian cricketer and his teammates have fallen prey to the machinations of bookies. India is the commercial hub of world cricket. An enormous illegal slush fund of cash goes into betting on each and every game that is played across the world. The IPL also provides the bits-and-pieces cricketers with opportunities to earn a decent living, as well as an avenue to make tidy incomes on the side. This greed is exploited ruthlessly by the bookies. The amounts spent on fixing games are staggering. The authorities should follow the money trail which could, in all probability, lead them to netting bigger fish internally and internationally.

The guilty must be brought to book and the Board of Control for Cricket in India must hand down the toughest sentences along with those deliberated by the law.

It is also time for those who run the IPL to take a closer look at the bigger picture — the tournament and its business model. The cancer has set in, but the game must be saved at all costs.