Fixing in IPL

I read a lot of stuff about the whole fixing thing in IPL, that the recent Chennai vs Bangalore match was fixed and it was a deliberate no-ball by Vinay Kumar R.P. Singh to Sir Ravindra Jadeja etc. etc. I don't buy that argument. Because it does not seem likely that match fixing can take place at such a huge scale. 90 foreign players from 7 different countries are participating in this tournament. Add to it an infinite number of sponsors, idiotic actors and corporate houses (who don't know an iota about cricket) and the support staff of cricket teams who assemble together just for a couple of months to run an entertainment show. It will take just one person to come out in the open and make a confession about what is going on in a team or in a match. We all saw what furore Hansie Cronje created by his admission. The stakes are way too high for a team to fix a match and get caught. The whole tournament will lose its credibility, not to mention the players, the captain and the coaches. It might be possible to do spot fixing involving a couple of players or so but to do it on the scale of a match is quite difficult, if not impossible. And the losses would be immense. Also, I like to believe that players like Sachin, Ponting, Muralitharan would not stoop to such low levels. I know that heroes like Hansie Cronje  and Azhar have betrayed this confidence once and no player is holier than thou. But there are people I look up to, and my heart does not like to accept these things unless proven otherwise. 

As it is it appears more like a daily soap these days. There is too much repetition, too much unnecessary drama, excessive dancing and of course there are ubiquitous sponsors and actors. I have never been a fan of IPL but once in a while you get to see the brilliance of Sachin Tendulkar, an old sparkling shot from Adam Gilchrist, that magnificent pull shot from Ricky Ponting, an occasional deceiving ball from Muralitharan that reminds of old times. I close the television or change the channel when these players are no longer in action. IPL for me is just about seeing my old heroes in action. Rest all is cheap ostentation.