No place for cheats to hide in this day and age of televised cricket, believes Sunil Gavaskar
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Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has asserted that it is impossible for players to get away with cheating in this modern era of cricket where every activity is monitored by cameras. Gavaskar also insisted that young kids should be educated about the potential lures and traps in cricket.
From Mohammad Amir's no-ball incident that rocked Cricket in 2010 to the Newlands ball-tampering saga last year which saw the unholy trio of Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith and David Warner get banned for a year from international cricket, players, in this day and age of cricket, have almost always been caught red-handed and exposed when trying to cheat blatantly.
Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar, who has always been vocal about his opinions, believes that there's literally no way out for players trying to cheat in modern-day cricket thanks to the hundreds of cameras constantly surveilling the activity of players throughout the match. He also feels that any player who tries to cheat will be exposed in public due to the aforementioned reasons.
"I would imagine sometimes the circumstances make a player think 'I can get away with it'. But you can't get away. Because it is so covered by television, every little aspect... you will be exposed as having done something wrong," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
In the wake of fixing claims surrounding regional T20 leagues Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and Karnataka Premier League (KPL), Gavaskar played it down stating that the leagues do more good than bad, pointing to the flurry of young players who have broken through thanks to the tournaments.
"Look at the talent that it has provided from the districts. For example, the Karnataka Premier League, the number of people who have come from the interiors which otherwise even the best of Karnataka scouts couldn't have been able to see.
Same with TNPL and all the other leagues that are happening. I think these leagues are very, very good. It is giving more talent to India cricket. Talent which would have otherwise gone untapped," he spoke of the T20 leagues.
The former Indian skipper also believes that one way of getting rid of corruption would be to educate the youngsters from the roots and explain them the grave consequences that would follow with corruption and cheating. However, he did concede that cricket is vulnerable and that every now and then there would be a person who would be swayed by greed.
"I think trying to educate these kinds, telling them what kind of traps they could be in would probably ease it. But like I said, greed is something nobody knows. Somebody comes from a very poor background and suddenly sees a lot of money, then you could be swayed.
"The best of societies, the most developed of societies still have criminals. In cricket also you will always have the odd person who will be swayed by greed. Could be some other reason that might force him to do something. That's something I don't think you can totally control." he signed off.
