I had always thought that the Catholic Church is:
Kambli’s provocation was the interview by Sir Paul Condon, the former ICC Anti Corruption Chief, where he said something like ‘many players from all countries were doing funny stuff in late 1990s’.
The reaction from the Indian cricket fraternity has been so swift, staunch and harsh - it must have really taken Kambli by surprise if only for sheer speed and vehemence. Apart from the usual suspects like the BCCI, Sharad Pawar and Azharuddin it was amusing to see 3 others tearing into Kambli on Times-Now TV couple of days back.
Two were the former cricketers Atul Wassan and Arun Lal and the third was the cricket writer Boria Mazumdar.
Arun Lal called Kambli as a person of ‘no-consequence’ and was almost dismissive of the cricketer himself. Atul Wassan, who at first took a more fair line, soon endorsed Arun Lal. Boria Mazumdar took it into a personal level accusing Kambli of trying to make (gouge?) money out of the whole issue.
All the 3 (and a lot of others) seem to have taken somewhat similar line on Kambli; that by talking about ‘something-funny’ in that 1996 game, Kambli:
Kambli as a player:
Make no mistake, Vinod Kambli was a far better Test, ODI and First Class player than either Arun Lal or Atul Wassan. The links show up their cricket stats and no more need to be said. Vinod Kambli has one of the highest Test averages in Indian cricket (54.20), comparable to any Indian Test batsman -
He never worked on his English language skills either and so could never break through into TV commentary or become a sports writer. But for all that, Kambli was a breath of fresh air and running him down as if he was a leper is reprehensible.
Sully the fair name of Cricket:
Cricket has already been exposed as one of the worst games to have been affected by various malpractices, from -
Bringing disrepute to the game:
This is again a moot point as most arguments enumerated above equally apply to it. The most galling was Azharuddin rubbishing Kambli’s claims. Azharuddin who was a fixer of the highest order himself, receiving huge sums of money in the bargain, rubbishing accusation of fixing during his tenure is laughable. The proof of his involvement is clearly stated in the CBI’s Report on Cricket Match Fixing and related Malpractices (Section 6) [http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/91433.html]
Looking at it sideways, one could argue that by trying to hogwash the issue of corruption and claiming that the Indian team was pristine pure during the 90’s, it is Azhar, Arun Lal, Wassan and Boria who are bringing disrepute to the game.
Speaking up after 15 years:
Perhaps this is the only substantially fair question that could be put to Kambli. But seeing his plight now, after 15 years, with everyone slamming him, can anyone imagine what would have been the reaction 5, 10 or 13 years before? If Kambli claims that he feared for his life and health, it is totally understandable.
BTW, Kambli claims that he spoke of his suspicions to Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, during his one man committee to probe the issue, but the Chandrachud committee reports part 1 and part 2 do not speak of Kambli or his suspicions. To be fair to Kambli, the Chandrachud committee report (of 1997), in the light of the CBI report (of 2000), isn’t worth the paper it is written on - it is pure nonsense.
Part 1: [http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/84526.html]
Part 2: [http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/84525.html]
Should produce proof::
This is the most absurd defence we can ever hear. What do these ‘defenders’ expect? That every person engaged in every economic activity for his livelihood (like Kambli at that time as a cricket player) should start a little-black-book from Day-1, jotting down everything. including serial numbers of the currency used by mates/colleagues, in the hope that one day he might have to turn a whistle blower?
A Whistle Blower never realises that he is in the middle of something illegal till something happens to provoke his suspicion. At that point, he takes a hard look at (his and others) past activity and decides to blow the whistle. How could anyone expect such a whistle blower to have ‘collected’ ‘proof’?
Apart, a Judge could not find even a whiff of anything smelly, a year after the 1996 World Cup fiasco. But many players and officials specifically cleared by the judge in 1997, ‘broke down’ under questioning only because the meticulous efforts of the CBI uncovered evidence which pointed to their malfeasance.
Thus uncovering, gathering evidence or proof and proving it in a court of law is the job of law enforcement agencies - not one for a common citizen or a former player.
image courtesy chinadaily
My mischievous half murmurs, ‘what is the Sports Minister Ajay Maken doing, by asking BCCI to ‘question’ Kambli? Earlier ‘questioning’ through Chandrachud committee was a hogwash. If he is concerned, should he not ask the Sports Secretary to file a compliant with CBI, just as his ministry had done in 2000?’
>:->
Note: All the reports mentioned herein are in public domain - CBI reports and Chandrachud reports.
- the world’s most tight knit group;
- the staunchest in defending its flock (especially the blackest ones);
- swiftest in its reactions to perceived slights; and,
- harshest towards those who dare to cross it (pun unintended).
Kambli’s provocation was the interview by Sir Paul Condon, the former ICC Anti Corruption Chief, where he said something like ‘many players from all countries were doing funny stuff in late 1990s’.
The reaction from the Indian cricket fraternity has been so swift, staunch and harsh - it must have really taken Kambli by surprise if only for sheer speed and vehemence. Apart from the usual suspects like the BCCI, Sharad Pawar and Azharuddin it was amusing to see 3 others tearing into Kambli on Times-Now TV couple of days back.
Two were the former cricketers Atul Wassan and Arun Lal and the third was the cricket writer Boria Mazumdar.
Arun Lal called Kambli as a person of ‘no-consequence’ and was almost dismissive of the cricketer himself. Atul Wassan, who at first took a more fair line, soon endorsed Arun Lal. Boria Mazumdar took it into a personal level accusing Kambli of trying to make (gouge?) money out of the whole issue.
All the 3 (and a lot of others) seem to have taken somewhat similar line on Kambli; that by talking about ‘something-funny’ in that 1996 game, Kambli:
- has sought to sully the fair name of Cricket
- has brought disrepute to the game
- had no need to speak up now, after 15 years (and why not before?)
- should produce proof of hanky-panky, else shut up
Kambli as a player:
Make no mistake, Vinod Kambli was a far better Test, ODI and First Class player than either Arun Lal or Atul Wassan. The links show up their cricket stats and no more need to be said. Vinod Kambli has one of the highest Test averages in Indian cricket (54.20), comparable to any Indian Test batsman -
- Sachin (56.08),
- Dravid (53.19),
- Sehwag (52.20),
- Laxman (47.30),
- Gavaskar (51.12), or
- Azharuddin (45.03)
He never worked on his English language skills either and so could never break through into TV commentary or become a sports writer. But for all that, Kambli was a breath of fresh air and running him down as if he was a leper is reprehensible.
Sully the fair name of Cricket:
Cricket has already been exposed as one of the worst games to have been affected by various malpractices, from -
- leaking the proposed team composition in advance
- leaking about the reading of the pitch conditions in advance
- fixing the match by throwing the wickets away or wayward bowling
- fixing the match in agreement with other teams to leverage ‘league’ standings, and lately,
- spot fixing
Bringing disrepute to the game:
This is again a moot point as most arguments enumerated above equally apply to it. The most galling was Azharuddin rubbishing Kambli’s claims. Azharuddin who was a fixer of the highest order himself, receiving huge sums of money in the bargain, rubbishing accusation of fixing during his tenure is laughable. The proof of his involvement is clearly stated in the CBI’s Report on Cricket Match Fixing and related Malpractices (Section 6) [http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/91433.html]
Looking at it sideways, one could argue that by trying to hogwash the issue of corruption and claiming that the Indian team was pristine pure during the 90’s, it is Azhar, Arun Lal, Wassan and Boria who are bringing disrepute to the game.
Speaking up after 15 years:
Perhaps this is the only substantially fair question that could be put to Kambli. But seeing his plight now, after 15 years, with everyone slamming him, can anyone imagine what would have been the reaction 5, 10 or 13 years before? If Kambli claims that he feared for his life and health, it is totally understandable.
BTW, Kambli claims that he spoke of his suspicions to Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, during his one man committee to probe the issue, but the Chandrachud committee reports part 1 and part 2 do not speak of Kambli or his suspicions. To be fair to Kambli, the Chandrachud committee report (of 1997), in the light of the CBI report (of 2000), isn’t worth the paper it is written on - it is pure nonsense.
Part 1: [http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/84526.html]
Part 2: [http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/84525.html]
Should produce proof::
This is the most absurd defence we can ever hear. What do these ‘defenders’ expect? That every person engaged in every economic activity for his livelihood (like Kambli at that time as a cricket player) should start a little-black-book from Day-1, jotting down everything. including serial numbers of the currency used by mates/colleagues, in the hope that one day he might have to turn a whistle blower?
A Whistle Blower never realises that he is in the middle of something illegal till something happens to provoke his suspicion. At that point, he takes a hard look at (his and others) past activity and decides to blow the whistle. How could anyone expect such a whistle blower to have ‘collected’ ‘proof’?
Apart, a Judge could not find even a whiff of anything smelly, a year after the 1996 World Cup fiasco. But many players and officials specifically cleared by the judge in 1997, ‘broke down’ under questioning only because the meticulous efforts of the CBI uncovered evidence which pointed to their malfeasance.
Thus uncovering, gathering evidence or proof and proving it in a court of law is the job of law enforcement agencies - not one for a common citizen or a former player.
image courtesy chinadaily
My mischievous half murmurs, ‘what is the Sports Minister Ajay Maken doing, by asking BCCI to ‘question’ Kambli? Earlier ‘questioning’ through Chandrachud committee was a hogwash. If he is concerned, should he not ask the Sports Secretary to file a compliant with CBI, just as his ministry had done in 2000?’
>:->
Note: All the reports mentioned herein are in public domain - CBI reports and Chandrachud reports.
Thank You
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