Speak to the organ grinder, not the monkey (Cricket’s a Sonofapitch, May 27). Can a bowler alone stage-manage the whole circus? What of the batsmen, fielders, umpires, managers, sponsors and the rest? The media has been one of the largest contractual beneficiaries in this game—playing both ends, and against the middle too.
K. Vijayan, Chennai
Blame the cellphone for this menace, which has stalked cricket from the Hansie Cronje-Azhar era. Where else do you hear of matches being fixed from the pavilion toilet?
C.K. Subramaniam, Mumbai
Since when was cricket betting-free, or for that matter, any major competitive big league sport? For god’s sake, stop this high-nosed tone of righteous indignation and let’s get on with the tamasha. Sreesanth and the other poor kids have been arrested only to salvage the sinking career of an incompetent big cop in Delhi. They must be immediately released and allowed to play whatever game they play, carry any number of towels in their pockets while playing...colour-coded, if necessary.
Manish Banerjee, Calcutta
Even after all this sordid mess, you still see thousands thronging the stadiums. It just goes to show the frustration levels of the average Indian, looking for any avenue to release their anxiety regarding the state of affairs in the country.
Saurabh Awasthi, Kanpur
For us pure cricket-lovers, this is agony, especially since it’s happened to the Dravid-captained Rajasthan Royals.
S.R. Gadicherla, Bangalore
From whatever has emerged till now, it’s logical to assume that a good many players may be compromised. Have other passages of play also been scripted by outside forces? Instead of acknowledging the possibility, the BCCI bosses are stuck on the ‘few rotten apples’ line.
Mohd Ziyaullah Khan, Nagpur
To paraphrase American journalist T.S. Mathews, our only recourse “is to damn it with the heaviest anathema known to the Indian soul”.
B.S. Bhatnagar, Gurgaon
Now is perhaps the time to also check on some of the performances of our ‘superstars’ from the 2011 World Cup.
Subbu Jayant, Mumbai
I am sure Sreesanth will be a Congress candidate, a la Azharuddin, in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, maybe from Kerala itself. Any bets on that?
H.N. Ananda, Bangalore
Why this eerie silence from another of our BCCI men, Arun Jaitley? With IPL headed by Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, we expected fireworks. But nary a word....
S.Y. Savur, Bangalore
The ‘pitch’ in your headline was, well, a rank turner.
H.N. Ramakrishna, Bangalore
This IPL should be renamed ‘Indian Parting League’, for Indians, if they have any sense, will say goodbye to it.
M.A. Raipet, Secunderabad
Whether fixed or not, IPL has been a great diversion from the daily dose of scams.
G. Neelakantan, Bangalore
When Polly Umrigar retired, he said that playing against Hall, Gibbs and Sobers was enough reward. We have now come to this, where even crores can’t stop a man’s greed.
S.S. Almal, Calcutta
Maybe Tata Sky was in on the betting. Their HD customers got the IPL on Channel 420.
N. Paul Jeyatilak, Chennai
