Cricket and corruption: the post-apartheid relationship between India and South Africa within and beyond the boundary

Abstract

International sports sanctions against the apartheid government resulted in the isolation of South African cricket from 1970 to 1991. When South Africa was readmitted to world cricket, India was the first to welcome the ‘new’ South Africa onto the international scene and the team played three one-day internationals in India to much fanfare and capacity crowds. The game of cricket has changed dramatically since South Africa's readmission. These changes include the emergence of powerful television stations and mega-dollar payments, which has shifted the power away from administrators, the ‘invention’ of a shorter version of the game (T20 cricket), and the formation of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which attests to the power of India in world cricket, as well as betting and match-fixing. As a result of television, cricket is now a global game that can be watched all year round. This growth has been accompanied by seedier developments, with betting scandals involving some of the great names in international cricket being one example. All though this period, India and South Africa enjoyed a ‘special relationship’, one that culminated in the sacking of Gerald Majola, the Chief Executive of Cricket South Africa, and Lalit Modi, Chairman of the IPL, followed by a souring of that relationship with the appointment of Haroon Lorgat as CEO of Cricket South Africa (CSA) in July 2013 against the wishes of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).