BALL TAMPERING:

               CHEATING : A WAY OF LIFE

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                                        Why this cricket ball tempering is a big news? Why not leaking of matriculation mathematics paper? People pass their medical examination or MA by cheating. Cheats are everywhere. The world is full of cheats. Wearing no helmet is also a cheating.

Cricket is most interesting and scientific game. Americans do not play it because they can’t understand the laws and bylaws plus they are restless persons and do not have time to watch a game of cricket. The rule has been set and one has to follow it. Why does one start cheating? To gain some thing for oneself and for the team. Years back cheating started by one Indian legend by getting the non striker out by removing the bails while on the move to deliver a ball, they call it unsportsmanlike? Even players used to change ball on the boundary line. People used oil or Vaseline to shine the ball. Then Pakistani fast bowlers taught reverse swing to the world of cricket. The game is so heavily loaded in favor of batsmen that bowlers feel like lambs to slaughter house. The batsman can use heavy and thick bats, can wear helmets, elbow guard, chest guard, the boundary line is made short for them. The batsman can bat left handed or right handed without notice where as a bowler has to tell in advance whether he or she is going to bowl in right or left arm? Why this double standard? Recently one of our star batsmen used Vaseline on the outer edge of bat so that the snicko meter can't pick the noise but he was not punished. Cheating in every team game goes on. Another famous cheating was in the world cup football where a famous player scored a goal by hand and their team won the world cup! Match fixing in individual games like tennis and badminton goes unnoticed .Our God of Indian cricket did similar thing in SA but for him the next test was made unofficial because he was banned for the next match.
I am not a great supporter of cheats but my point is why the bowlers will not be allowed to have his personal ball like batsman use personal bats? Eighty overs are too much for a next new ball, it should be reduced to 60 overs to keep the game even. Everyone in life cheats at some point or other, some confess others do not.

Sanjoy Kumar Satpathy

Ex-East Zone Cricket player.