Over The Top

Since 2012, he has persona non grata sport.

Chastened, Kaneria made his confession to Al Jazeera channel last week and begged forgiveness of Westfield, Essex and Pakistani fans, fellow players and administrators.

He has requested that the life ban on him to be lifted, stating that he would like to mentor and counsel young players against the temptations that can come their way from bookies, fixers and other unsavoury elements.

Skeptics argue, however, that his father died in 2013, and he still did not come clean till last week, that he was hankering for legitimacy and therefore the ban should not be lifted.

Kaneria says he went into denial mode because his father was ailing from cancer been a in the when his corruption came to light and he didn’t want to cause him grief since he was “very proud of my playing for the country”. He admits he was wrong, and that he couldn’t continue living “with lies.”

This is a vexing issue no doubt, though I believe that any help from any quarter in stymieing the cancer of corruption in the sport should be encouraged, not spurned.

In fact, I would venture that Kaneria should volunteer to help irrespective of whether the ban is lifted or not, and the authorities should accept this service. Their own experiences can not only help understand the modus operandi of fixers, but also the defence against it.

In the context, Sanath Jayasuria’s diffidence to