Short-term memory

Going by the age-old adage that public memory is short, a certain number of players from the neighbouring country have nothing to worry about. I am referring to the current controversy surrounding spot-fixing, throwing matches, under-performing and mingling of young Pakistani players with bookies in England.

Though it makes for extremely juicy copy for us journalists and equally fancy front pages, the general public will soon get bored of it and move on. A week of sensationalism and the common man wants a new topic to discuss and mingle with while gossiping on the daily commute to work and back. The heavy downpour was a huge part of the discussions, followed by the sad state of our potholed roads. And then came the favourite big bomb of spot-fixing.

Three Pak players were called in for questioning, and reprimanded. The general populace in the neighbouring country made an ass of itself by protesting with donkeys labelled with the names of the players. All nice and angry for now, but how long will this rage really last?

Take the perfect example on our own home soil. Not very long ago, the foundation of our trust in the Men in White was shattered when allegations of match-fixing broke out. A former captain, the then captain, and two skippers of other countries, were named in the mother of all scandals. A couple of players were banned for life, some for a few years. The country was enraged.

Fair enough, we would say. After all, cricket is a religion in this country and the players are no lesser than gods. However, having said that, the very same players were soon forgiven and all was forgotten too.

One player, who happened to be the alleged kingpin of the global match-fixing scandal, lost the chance to reach a famous landmark in his career. Posters, placards and protests baying for the player's blood were seen across the country. Ironically, some years later, the same player was seen leading political rallies and campaigning across the country. We, the people of the world's largest democracy, voted the 'tainted' player into power and put him in Parliament!

Another such banned player made us dance to his Bollywood tunes and we follow his advice on several television channels. Other players accused in the scandal also had fairy tale endings. So the likes of Mohammed Asif can heave a sigh of relief. That meaty role in a Malayalam film could just be around the corner.

As they say, no publicity is bad publicity.