New Delhi: Controversies have followed and controlled the global game of cricket since its advent. Many teams and players have been convicted and accused for match-fixing over the years.
The involvement of bookmakers have surely ruined the spirit of the game and decreased public interest.
It has had a number of controversies relating to players being involved latest being the arrest of Indian paceman S Sreesanth and two of his Rajasthan Royals teammates by Delhi police.
Numerous other players have also been approached by bookmakers and bribed to, throw matches, aspects of matches or provide other information.
In 2000, the Delhi police intercepted a conversation between a blacklisted bookie and the South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje in which they learnt that Cronje accepted money to throw matches.
A court of inquiry was set up and Cronje admitted to throwing matches. He was immediately banned from all cricket.
He also named Saleem Malik (Pakistan), Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja (India).
Jadeja was banned for 4 years. They too were banned from all cricket.
As a kingpin, Cronje exposed the dark side of betting, however with his untimely death in 2002 most of his sources also have escaped law enforcement agencies.
Two South African cricketers, Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, were also listed as wanted by the Delhi police for their role in the match fixing saga.
Among the scandals were Mark Waugh and Shane Warne's fines from the Australian Cricket Board for offering information about the weather and pitch information to "John the bookmaker".
Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal have all been given an invitation by several bookmakers.
The Aussie's in general believe it is the negligence of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit formed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000.
During the 4th Test of 2010 Pakistani tour of England, English newspaper News of the World published a story with allegations that Mazhar Majeed and some of the Pakistani players were involved in spot fixing.
But the fountainhead of the betting syndicates is Dawood Ibrahim's D Company.
"Many think that the bookies fix matches. That's not true as punters in Dubai are the ones who call the shots," says a top Mumbai bookie.
For any India-Pakistan clash, especially in Sharjah (the hub of match-fixing, say bookies), Dawood-controlled betting syndicates step in and Mumbai bookies, as an unwritten rule, lay off.
And Dawood's influence extends to players as well.
