IPL Money Made Lankan Cricketers Indebted to Team India
Posted on June 21st, 2013
Dilrook Kannangara
DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t expect Team Sri Lanka to ever beat Team India in crucial matches. The disaster at ICC Champions Trophy semifinal against India was a display of shameless deliberate underperformance by most players. Pitch was not the perfect for batting but it was far less dangerous than what Lankan players pretended it to be. Their pretending was worth an Oscar. When the Indians took the pitch there wasnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t a hint of danger as they scored at will.
Lahiru Thirimanne costed over 5 overs to score just 7 runs and Kumar Sangakkara took more than 7 overs to score 17 runs. Approach to batting was disheartening from almost all the batsmen. Many threw away their wickets away so as not to offend their cricket crazy IPL owners.
This pattern of deliberate underperformance in crucial matches against India has become the hallmark of Lankan cricket.
IPL provides players with vital exposure to the shorter forms of the game. It also made them multimillionaires, at least in rupee terms. However, the players are underprepared to manage conflict of interest. It is not that IPL team owners personally threaten players to rescind their contract if they beat India but Lankan players feel indebted to India, Indian players and their IPL team owners. Sri Lankan players are the least financially secure of all IPL players which makes them most vulnerable to conflict of interest.
Indebtedness to IPL owners is not limited to IPL contracted players. Other hopefuls also harbor inferior feelings towards the Indian team hoping they will get a chance to play in IPL soon.
To make matters even worse just a few months ago Lankan players refused to sign contracts blaming a cut in perks offered to them previously.
The gentlemanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s game has indeed gone to race hounds. If this is not enough a tragedy, these players set a very bad example for youngsters who look up to these sellouts.
June 21st, 2013 at 12:42 pm
These are very serious allegations which need tangible evidence to prove which will never materialise foe very obvious reasons!
Agreed that the IPL is a monster, to echo the sentiments of our greatest ever skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and the IPL per say is a pathetic example of typical Indian Bourgeoisie mentality where billions of dollars are floated by big businessmen and the gate turnarounds are even more humungous and all the while there are starving millions in the country around them. It really should be dubbed India’s shame and if our Lankans pay homage to this enterprise based on their personal interests they should be kicked out of the SLBC payroll and the Lankan lineup and asked to go play cricket in India. Sometimes one wonders about Lasith Malinga in this respect who opted out of Test Cricket at a time when staying with the IPL seemed a better alternative.
Even Tthe Hollywood scenario cannot be completely swept aside as it was visibly illustrated by LM who appeared to be virtually crippled soon after opting out of the Test Arena during the previous IPL but recovered fast enough to play in the IPL and seen running like a jackrabbit ( an uncrippled one) so there are very questionable issues pointed out by Dilrook and yes to all appearances it seemed a real portrayal of the Thespian art as our would be heroes ( actors) crumbled on an easy paced wicket and handed the Semi Final to big brother India on a platter with hardly a fight.There were rumours that even the World Cup was an orchestrated one to help in India although nothing has been proved. Maybe someday some canary will sing and the truth will come out
June 21st, 2013 at 7:07 pm
I totally agree with Dilrook. Our team’s performance was pathetic and shameful and there surely is more to it than meets the naked eye. Our national cricket team has lost its patriotic passion.
I watched the first fifteen overs, and then the pros and the cons became crystal clear to me. So I switched off. In the present state of the game losing leaves not scars. as one captain once said after a major defeat: we will regroup and carry one. Our cricket, the only game in which we have reached an international level, now has money as its only initiative and Indian policy as its soul.
Our players do not have any personal pride, leave alone a national pride. They are doing a job, and will pull for the giver of the emoluments…who clearly and unambiguously is India.
Just as Britannia once ruled the waves, now it is India that rules the turf.
Our cricketers are exactly in the mold of our government decision makers. The first thoughts and concessions are of and for India. The people’s desires and yearnings are trod on and submerged under that unique turf. Whether it be the 13A or a do or die championship event, India will always rule our cabinet in politics and the turf in cricket. Our flannel clad puppets will go the way of our decision making politicians…which is only one way: India’s.
Mario Perera
Kadawata
June 21st, 2013 at 8:33 pm
What do you expect? SLC didn’t pay their salaries for a long time. IPL paid them during that time. Without IPL Sri Lankan players could not make their ends meet. I don’t justify their actions but I understand their plight. Imagine you get 1.5 million dollars from India and SLC don’t pay your salary? Can you lose the millions too? You can play cricket for a few years. After that you have to survive with no business, no education, no good English and no cricket job.
I watched the full match. If you had played serious cricket you know they were playing to lose. I blame everyone of them for playing to lose. This is match fixing and spot fixing both. India team is very good but Sri Lankan team was not that bad to lose like this.
As someone said this is not only in cricket. Our politicians are the same like cricketers. India rules Sri Lanka through their puppets everywhere. What a tragedy for a country that had so much hope just 4 years ago.
As he says we will know the outcome of any important match between Sri Lanka and India before the match. India will always win important matches against Sri Lanka. Money talks.
June 22nd, 2013 at 2:16 pm
THEY CALL THEMSELVES GENTLEMEN AND SELL THE COUNTRY LIKE OTHER GENTLMEN SUCH AS SCIENTISTS UNIVERSITY LECTURERS AND POLITICIANS WITH WESTERN TYPE OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM——COLOMBIANS——-
GOVIRALA WILL NOT DO THIS….. BUT HE IS NOT TREATED AS A GENTLEMAN
June 23rd, 2013 at 4:39 pm
These are serious allegations without any evidence. I for one, simply do not believe our SL cricketers will give a game away. Just because we lost, we cannot assume they lost intentionally.
June 24th, 2013 at 4:13 am
These indeed are very serious allegations. However, evidence cannot be found unless it comes from the parties to it. That may not happen. There is a wide gap between legally admissive match/spot fixing and actual underperformance. The latter cannot be legally proven. It is proven by the repetition of events and a pattern.
Sri Lanka lost all crucial matches against India since IPL. The attitude and approach to crucial matches against India has been markedly different to matches against other teams. Willful non payment of salaries, delayed payment and cut down of family travel facility surely affected players. In fact all the players refused to renew their contracts with the Board under new rules until the minister threatened to raise a fresh team. That is an indication of how far the game is monetized. In that context IPL is a blessing to them.
Since 1979 to 2008 (until) IPL Sri Lanka won 44% of all ODI matches against India. This percentage fell to a dismal 35% after IPL despite a better team. However, it doesn’t say the importance of individual matches behind the statistics.
At the very least, the conflict of interest is very real and players are totally unequipped to deal with it. This complex issue must be addressed.