The recent arrests of the three players of Rajasthan Royals – S. Sreesanth, Ankit Chavanand Ajit Chandila – have resulted in extreme reactions among followers of the sport.
While the supporters of Rajasthan Royals are equally furious at the three accused, they are still loyal to the team.
“The three players don’t even deserve to play with Dravid, Watson and most importantly with the team. Don’t worry Dravid, we will still support you and your team”, Sohan Stanly, a Rajasthan Royals supporter posted on Facebook.
Meanwhile, some fans of Sreesanth are still showing faithfulness, hoping that the allegations against the cricketer are disproved. Members of Sreesanth’s Facebook fan page are posting updates displaying their loyalty.
“WE WILL ALL PRAY FOR YOU”, posts Rahul S, a fan of the cricketer.
Support for the captain of the team, Rahul Dravid, still remains unshaken. Manu Priya, a Rahul Dravid fan, posted on Facebook, “Our support will be allways with u.. Because we trust our captain”.
Another fan Prabhu Alur posted, “Rahul Dravid is again proven to be the unluckiest cricketer ever as Sreesant, Chandila and Chavan are arrested for spot fixing. I feel horrible thinking about what Rahul must be going through right now. the great sportsman with high moralities now has to face this humiliation”.
According to another IPL fan, Chirag Tulsiani, “This team has been involved in a couple of controversies this year but I wouldn’t mind seeing them lift this years trophy, and that is only because of Rahul Dravid. He would be disappointed with all that has happened…”
Meanwhile, in the offline world, angry IPL fans demonstrated in Bangalore. They burnt the effigies of the three Rajastahan Royals on Thursday. The arrest of the trio has left the entire nation in a state of shock.
Saurav Ganguly in an interview with CNN-IBN voiced his disappointment and said that, if proven guilty, ‘the players should be banned for life’.
In a country where cricket is regarded as a religion that people follow, such adultery to the sport is unacceptable. While it has hurt the sentiments of many, it has garnered anger which will have consequences in the time to come.
Background:
Three players of IPL team Rajasthan Royals, S. Sreesanth, Ankit Chavanand Ajit Chandila, were arrested by the special cell of the Delhi police on early Thursday morning. The arrest was made on alleged charges of spot-fixing. Along with them, 11 bookies have been taken into custody and have been booked under sections 420 and 120 (b).
As an action against these players, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned them for a minimum of five years.
Owners react:
The owners of Rajasthan Royals, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, claimed that the team wasn’t fixed and critiqued the integrity of those booked.
The official Facebook page of Rajasthan Royals had an explanation to the events saying, ‘the management at Rajasthan Royals has a zero-tolerance approach to anything that is against the spirit of the game’.
src: http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/1835596/report-rajasthan-royals-fans-furious-but-continue-to-support-team-and-rahul-dravid