TV stars react on IPL spot fixing scandal

The spot fixing menace is back. This time our cash rich IPL (Indian Premier League) is under the scanner. Three Rajasthan Royal players including the maverick S Sreesanth have been arrested over night (16 May) for fixing particular moments of certain matches of the ongoing T20 cricket carnival. Since cricket and TV have had a great relationship, we spoke to a few television actors about what they felt about the same. Let’s hear it… Jay Soni (Sanskaar – Dharohar Apno Ki) said, “I don’t like IPL for it affects the ratings of our daily shows. You know the amount of effort that we daily soap artists put in to create one episode. And these guys just cannibalize our ratings with less effort.” Coming to the current spot fixing, he says, “This has been going on for years, it is just that things have now come to the fore. The biggest bane to cricket is the bookies. I know of families who have been ruined due to gambling. It is very sad to see that people regard cricketers as Gods and the same people end up doing things which betray their love and emotions.” Manav Gohil (The Buddy Project ) who himself is a cricketer feels that such incidents put a question mark on the credibility of IPL and the governing authorities that claim that they are doing all what it takes to clean up the process. “I am sure that such event will also be taking place in the EPL (English Premier League) and NBA (National Basketball Association ), but at a lower level for there the people are more educated and less susceptible to influence .” Manav added that money has become the main source of trouble, the huge moolah what young players like Virat Kohil makes today was much more then what cricket greats earned before. Aashka Goradia (soon to be seen in Maharana Pratap) says ,“I personally don’t like team sports for there are high chances of corruption when compared to individual disciplines like car racing. In individual sports, the concerned person will think ten times before indulging in activities which might harm his/her brand or image.” Sara Khan (Junoon) feels that “you can’t hold aberration by a few players as saying that all players are guilty. “The game is bigger than anything. I am sure that the IPL will continue to rock and give us nail-biting finishes. I welcome the assertion by the board that all those guilty will be banned for life. Justice should be served and it should send a message to everyone that on indulging in malpractices, one will be dealt with severely. There should be zero tolerance for corruption.” Finally, Gaurav Chopraa feels that the best part about sports is that great performances happen on a chance, but unfortunately that very chance element is used by unscrupulous element to fix matches. “We need to accept that such things happen and can’t be brushed under the carpet anymore.” However, he does not think that betting if made legal will solve the problem for, “it is virtually impossible to stop the betting to affect the fairness of the sport in the real world.” “What really upsets me is the fact that most cricket players today are anyway earning lots of money the legit way, so why do they need to resort to underhanded ploys?” What are your thoughts on the spot fixing scandal in IPL??? Send in your comments…