PAKISTAN’S cricket team has come once again under cloud. A sting by a tabloid newspaper of Britain has put at least two Pakistani players in a spot: they are alleged to have played in a particular way because they were paid for that. Now, we have a complex problem here.

It is becoming difficult to tell a normal defeat from a fixed one. Yet such allegations that have implicated two young Pakistani cricketers are going to influence the minds of the people in the wrong way. Supporters of every cricket team would, in case of a defeat, suspect fixing. Gambling and betting are done on a gigantic scale across the world, and it is virtually impossible to eradicate it from sports. Much of this is underground, and there is a complicity of the masses. Eternal vigilance by law enforcers as well as the national cricket boards and ICC alone can minimise the chances of fixing.