Of actions and consequences

When someone who is unaware of cricket looks at the events of past week and its culmination, they wouldn’t be unjustified in their astonishment, seeing grown men cry over not being allowed to play as punishment for cheating. Be it at school level or whatever level its being played at, sports is something that is beyond exhibition of physical ability or skill. It’s often seen as the last remaining bastion of sacredness and something that is regarded very highly by nations world over. Any act that brings disrepute to the game is never seen lightly and usually the punishments vary depending on the nature of the crime. Yes. The word is “crime” for disobeying the rules of a “game” supposed to be “played” on the field. Such is the amount of importance society assigns to sports. Even in country like India, where its often lamented that neither the government nor the parents, give enough attention or patronage, people get  decent paying jobs, seats in good educational institutions on “sports quota”. Being good in any game is considered a matter of prestige not just for the individual but also for the region they represent. It’s in this light that the ball tampering saga has been investigated and the guilty party penalized.

What pains more is that the culprits involved where world beaters on their own. Smith was touted as the next Bradman and Warner can win wars on his own on his given day. Had they tampered with their bats to score more heavily, it might have gone down the likes of Ben Johnson and his doping scam. But more than influencing their score line, their efforts in trying to win over the opposition by altering the level playing field to the advantage of their team had extrapolated their misdeed to monumental level. As it is the potent of Aussie attack is world known and trying to add more edge by tampering the ball felt like an overkill to any bystander. On closer inspection, it throws bad light on the way their bowlers have been picking wickets all while and discredits their honest efforts. Considering that Starc is already out of the last test match under injury scare, only adds more fuel to fire.

All said and done, banning the best bats in business for an year sounds way too harsh. As much as their acts have brought disrepute to a nation priding itself on its sports glory and how much ever one argue that it might set as a deterrent for erring players in futures, the loss is as much for the game as much for the individuals. Of all the person, Smith!!!! Why Smith, Why? It was heartbreaking to see his latest interview on emotional admission and his press conference on the day of the outbreak, felt like a movie scene with raw and real emotions simmering all over. The way he carried himself and in owning the responsibility, he sure would’ve won hearts world over and despite the macho image of the astonishing numbers he had churned on the test arena, his tears showed that he is still a 28 year old captain, swayed by wrong impulse of the moment. Somehow similar kind of sentiment doesn’t seem to apply for Warner or Bancroft. Probably because, Smith is like the first bencher, whom everyone adores for his good marks/runs and Warner is the last bencher, always looking for trouble. End of the day, it has weakened the very team, they were trying to rebuild as world beaters. Hope to see them soon, back in action, scoring heavily against all opposition, except India of course J