Patriotic’ Indians should take Majid seriously

New Delhi, June 13: The shrill reaction of the Board of Control for Cricket in India against allegations by Dr Ali Bacher that the India-P...

New Delhi, June 13: The shrill reaction of the Board of Control for Cricket in India against allegations by Dr Ali Bacher that the India-Pakistan World Cup match was fixed serves nobody’s cause. As it is, they continue to bury their heads in the sand despite the whole world, now, in the know what the players and the administrators think of Indian fixers’ when they talk in private’. The Board, at the moment, is a redundant body fit enough only to be dismantled.

Bacher made these allegations on the evidence of what former Pakistan cricketer and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Majid Khan had told him. And Majid Khan is not someone to be treated lightly, for it was on his initiative that Pakistan re-opened the match-fixing probe which in the end did nail their players. And when a man of Majid’s integrity says something, it should be treated with the seriousness it deserves and not scoffed at simply because these allegations touch a very sensitive chord.

The patriotic’ Indians should realise that what Majid is saying indicts his team more than the Indians. If the match was fixed, it had to be fixed by the Pakistanis as they were the ones who lost.

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Majid must be facing the wrath of his countrymen today for accusing his players of being traitors: Losing deliberately to bitter foes India. So, let us not get into these nationalistic’ debates, as the issue involved is one of restoring the lost credibility of the sport and not scoring points over which of the two nations plays fair’.

One can understand the shock expressed by coach Anshuman Gaekewad or other Indian players. If a legitimate’ victory the only one which the Indians treasure from their disastrous World Cup campaign is now being questioned, they have every reason to feel betrayed. That is why there is greater reason for the Indian board to react cautiously to this allegation and seek Majid’s co-operation in clearing the air, like the CBI has done.

It is not fair on Majid’s part also to say he stands by what Bacher has told the King Commission and, in the same breath, add he can provide no evidence and has reached this conclusion using his judgment as a cricketer’. He should know better and come forward with whatever evidence helped him arrive at this cricketer’s judgment’. Otherwise we will watch one more round of accusations and counter-accusations, with the truth, especially for the Indians, remaining as elusive as ever.