The taint of spot fixing and black money is back to haunt cricket yet again and this time the menace is in our own backyard. India's only global sports brand, the IPL, is under threat according to some. Consequently, there is a serious debate on possible corrections going forward.

The problem is twofold. First, and perhaps easier to deal with, is the issue of black money. The second and far more critical and difficult to deal with is the issue of spot fixing. According to the recent sting, some Indian domestic players claimed to have received black money from their franchises over and above their worth fixed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). While they have subsequently rescinded their statements, this menace will continue to lurk on the horizon if the BCCI tries to impose controls on what is otherwise a free market enterprise.


Currently, price slabs for all domestic cricketers playing in the IPL are fixed by the BCCI. In a tournament which is premised on the demand-supply principle, such regulation can never work. How can the BCCI predetermine the worth of a particular player to a particular franchise. The best example is that of Ravindra Jadeja. None of us ever imagined that Jadeja would be sold to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a whopping $6 million in the February 4 auction. After a tie with the Mumbai Indians at $2 million, Chennai is deemed to have paid $4 million more to buy Jadeja in a blind auction.

Under normal circumstances the BCCI would never have fixed Jadejas price at $2 million. Or the $6 million he eventually went for. Nor can we rationalise his price in comparison to Dhoni (retained by CSK for $1.8 million) Jadejas price was determined by the particular context of the last auction and the immediate needs of the franchises.

By trying to navigate against market forces, the BCCI is opening itself up to the possibility of players trying to negotiate under the table. This is because certain players feel discriminated against as a result of BCCI policies. Current rules permit an Indian player to go into the auction explaining the unusually high $1.6 million paid for Saurabh Tiwary and force a domestic player  to remain in slabs of Rs 10,20 or 30 lakh.

Mohnish Mishra, who might well consider himself to be an equal of Tiwary based on his domestic performances in the 2011-12 season, had his reasons to feel jealous and act irresponsibly in the process. While rightly condemning such unacceptable behaviour,the BCCI can easily snuff out such possibilities in the future by placing all players (except those retained ) into the auction pool the next time around.

This will mean that the worth of every player is decided by market forces,saving players from the temptation of negotiating under the table. It will also save the franchises from unnecessary trouble and from having to run after domestic players at the start of every season.

The more difficult problem, however, is that of spot fixing. Unfortunately, there isnt a mechanism available yet that can successfully check spot fixing in first class cricket worldwide. If a player decides to play out a few maiden overs at the start of a Ranji Trophy match for  example,there is nothing to suggest that he is doing it deliberately. No amount of policing or stationing of anticorruption officials can eradicate this problem.

Legalising betting too is not the answer. If it had been, the spot fixing spectacle involving three Pakistani players wouldnt have happened. Betting in the UK has been legal for a long time now, and yet Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir did what they did. Rather, exemplary punishment seems the only way forward. Players indulging in spot fixing should be banned for life; such a harsh punishment is perhaps the only possible deterrent going forward.

This is so for two reasons. First, the sums involved in domestic cricket are relatively small. If the understanding that spot fixing for Rs 1 or 2 lakh can cost a player his entire career is drilled into the psyche of players, the risks involved vis-a-vis the immediate gain will appear too large. Second, the severity of the punishment and the very spectacle of public rebuke might prevent players from indulging in corrupt practices.

There is no silver bullet to stop spot fixing but there is certainly a need to deal with culprits in the harshest manner. A few rotten apples are casting into doubt the credibility of the game and are causing much heartburn to the ardent fan. The resilience of brand IPL too is in doubt as a result of these acts of indiscretion. The BCCI has done the right thing by acting tough and that too with real urgency.

Finally,some judiciousness on the part of the fan is also in order. While condemning the indiscretions, there is no reason to start doubting the credibility of the game. No one, for example, can orchestrate ten last ball finishes in any form of cricket. While it is time to take corrective action against spot fixing, there is no reason to turn cynical as a result.

Boria Majumdar: The writer is senior research fellow,University of Central Lancashire.

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