Why I feel #IndvsSA match was 'fixed'

I smell a rat. A big one at that. And that rat was at the Wankhede stadium last night.

The South Africans led by the inimitable AB de Villiers came, saw and conquered. They really did. First the T20 series, and now the ODI one. What was on display was some breathtaking strokeplay and some disciplined bowling by the Proteas that did the Indians in. Three centurions from the tourists ensured that they amassed a gargantuan 438 in their allotted quota of overs. The Indian chase, on the other hand, never got off to a start and never made even as much as a whimper before fizzling out. It was a South African masterclass.

This is what readily meets the eye. However, there may be something vile flowing underneath the innocuous exterior, as it were. Let's not uncritically accept the "goody-goody", "think-no-evil" explanations for Team India's abysmal performance that base themselves solely on the superior cricketing prowess of the Proteas. Important as that may be, anyone who has closely followed the game, would know that often there is a completely different factor working to influence the outcome of cricket matches. Yes, you guessed it right. I am hinting at match-fixing.

Whoa, don't bring in that conspiracy theory again, some would say. I beg to differ, though. The world, my friends, is not that innocent. Who would have ever thought the former South African capltain Hansie Cronje, who used to be an "idol" for many would be even remotely involved in something as repulsive as match-fixing. When Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were penalised for being involved in match-fixing, we as a nation of cricket-lovers were aghast. There have been allegations that India had "thrown" the World Cup 1996 semifinal against Sri Lanka. The Pakistanis have faced match-fixing allegations on numerous occasions. Not just international cricket, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has had its share of ignominy, when the spot-fixing scandal broke out in 2013.

Particularly, since the Cronje case (infamously known as Hansiegate), allegations have surfaced from time to time of matches being "thrown" for money, with no regard for feelings of the fans, or the pride of a nation. Cricket was no longer the pure and pristine game that people believed it to be. And when former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was found dead under extremely mysterious circumstances during World Cup 2007, following his team's shock exit from the showpiece tournament, we knew things just got murkier. Many theories on the reason behind the ace strategist's death have done the rounds. According to some of them, Woolmer was "silenced" as he may have known things which ought not to have been revealed. People have interpreted a diabolical design in Cronje's untimely death in a plane crash in 2002 too.

It is the manner of India's defeat last night that makes it look fishy. What stood out was that there was hardly an attempt by the Indian batsmen to counter attack. When you go down so meekly, you are bound to set tongues wagging. It's not that the Indian players lack ability, but their collective stage fright was hard to explain. It is easy to not read much into it and shrug it off as Dhoni did, but when so much has happened that tell you that there is a dark world that exists, you have no option but to be suspicious.