The Shreesant Saga...

I am very disturbed by Shreesant 'Spot Fixing' episode.

You know the one that I am talking about, don't you? During the recent IPL T20 Matches, in one of the matches involving his team, Shreesant bowled an over that cost him 15 runs. It later turned out that he was paid approximately 60 Lakhs to bowl that one bad over. Unfortunately for him, the entire communication was caught on tape and Shree, as he is called, was arrested by Delhi Police. He is currently out on bail. 

Mind you, I am not a fan of Cricket. I think that it is a very silly game, a game in which two teams play for entire five days with the result being a draw !!. How can one like this game?

Despite my antipathy to cricket, I am totally affected by Shreesant episode, that it is almost weird. I don't know Shreesant, I don't care much for Cricket and I don't care for Spot Fixing. But I have been eerily fascinated by l'affair Shreesant. 

Why?

My wife says that I am feeling bad because Shreesant is from Kerala, my home state. As a malayali, I am affected by what is happening to another of my ilk, according to her.

I don't think so. 

I think I am affected because I see a talent getting wasted. Anyone who has seen Shreesant bowling in South Africa will attest to the talent. That Seam Bowling !!. That Swing Bowling !!. Awesome...It is terrible to watch this exceptional talent being wasted.

You have my reason #1 right there.

But I don't think that is the main reason.

Do you watch channels like NatGeo, Discovery, Animal Planet etc? If you do, you know that one of the most common scenes in these channels are those of big cats praying on unsuspecting pray. The pray like deer, gazelle etc Will be playing around, prancing around like nobody's business, generally enjoying themselves, oblivious to the cold, calculating, steely eyes of the hunters, unaware that at any moment, they are going to become the food for the big cats. 

These hunters has the ability to spot the weakest animal out of hordes of animals. Their expert eyes can spot the weak, the young and the lame among thousands of wilder beast. 

This is what I was thinking of res 'Shresant Saga'. Remember the 'Slap Gate' where Shreesant got slapped by Harbhajan Singh? I think Shree had got 'Bajji' out or something (remember, I don't like or follow cricket) and was prancing around and 'Bajji Slapped him.

At that moment, the wicked eyes of the betting mafia had fallen on Shreesant. They espied his weak spot. 

From then on he was marked.

Lions, when they catch a young pray, allow them to try to escape. They fully well know that the pray can't escape. Like a puppeteer who plays puppets on a string, the big cat hunter plays with the pray till it feels hungry. 

Having marked Shreesant, this is what the betting mafia did. They allowed Shreesant to 'Play around'. They allowed him to let himself go, to enjoy himself, to dance is parties, to sing and freak out, play a bit of cricket sometime....

They allowed Shreesant to prance around, knowing that he is always under their control. The mafia was building him up, increasing his value, preparing him for the slaughter, as it were, which they did during the recent IPL.

That is why I am feeling sad. I am feeling for Shreesant, the same sadness that I feel for the young deer about to be hunted down by the king of the jungle. 

That is reason # 2.

I also feel bad for Shreesant's parents. If reports are to be believed, he was an irresponsible child, dotted by his parents and elder sister. Probably the parents failed to instill the required values in him during his childhood. 

I am sure that they are regretting now. Putting myself in their shoes, I feel bad for them. 

That is the third reason I am feeling bad and sad about the whole unsavory episode.