Three's an (Un)Lucky Charm

The Indian cricketing fraternity was rocked by a match-fixing scandal during the 2013 Indian Premier League on 16th of May 2013, suggesting that the rot in the system went deep.

The Trio; dailyo.in

Mumbai Indians were up against the Rajasthan Royals on the 15th of May 2013.  After a thrilling game at the Wankhede, the Royals left for their team hotel after an embarrassing defeat. But the night wasn’t over yet. There was a nasty surprise in store for them waiting to tear apart the very fabric of their team; the very fabric of the Indian Premier League.

A unit of the Delhi Police, who had been closely monitoring the players and untangling a complex web of match-fixing greeted the team soon enough and to their horror, took away three players of the team- S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan along with countless other bookies.

If things weren’t bad enough already, Gurunath Meiyappan, Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings and son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan was also implicated in this fixing saga. BCCI officials, were feeling the heat now. Even though Srinivasan held his own and refused to resign, BCCI secretary, treasurer and IPL chairman refused to face the music and resigned immediately.

Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh, who was omnipresent in all Chennai Super Kings matches was also put behind the bars for his involvement.

When the news broke out, many fans were left shell-shocked. IPL's murky behind-the-scenes dealings had been the source of harmless laughs for many, but never did they imagine that these jokes weren't just a figment of their playful imagination. It was the naked truth; a truth that exposed how soulless the system was.

Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were banned from all forms of cricket for life by the BCCI. Two years later, they were declared not guilty of the crimes they had been accused of, but Chandila's life ban still stuck. Two years later, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were handed two-year bans for their involvement in the facade.

Sreesanth tried making a comeback a few years later, but despite being absolved of his crimes, he found no bidders for him at the Indian Premier League auction.

Fans took to the street in protest of the heinous crimes that had been exposed. For a country which considers the game a religion and worships its players like God, match-fixing amounted to blasphemy. With their faith abused and their gods exposed to have been prone to the lust of many like any puny human, the fans had no were left with nowhere to go.