"India-Pakistan CT Final was fixed", claims Union Minister Ramdas Athawale

The humiliating defeat to Pakistan in the final of the Champions Trophy a couple of weeks ago is yet to sink in for the Indian fans despite a couple of wins in West Indies. Whilst there’s euphoria all over Pakistan, the fans on this side of the border were utterly disappointed after their team lost to their arch-rivals, against whom they had such a brilliant record in ICC tournaments.

These are the moments when fans across the country sometimes cross the tolerance line and start claiming the match was fixed. Yes, the conspiracy theorists. It’s not really a serious issue if a fan claims so, but when a public figure or any other celebrity demeans the side for fixing the match, things worsen, especially on social media.

Union minister Ramdas Athawale in an event at Ravi Bhavan, Nagpur, said to the media that the India-Pakistan final was fixed and raised doubts as to how did the players’ form dip so badly after they had played so well throughout the tournament. He also demanded an inquiry on this issue.

“How could the cricketers, who played so well in the entire tournament, did not perform in the final match (in London on June 18)? It appears that the match was fixed and we demand an inquiry into it,” the RPI (A) leader said.

“Rest the under-performers and give chance to cricketers from Dalit community” 

Athawale also requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to rest all the cricketers who didn’t perform well in the Champions Trophy and the talented cricketers from the Dalit community should be given a chance in their place. Never did we hear caste/creed playing a crucial role in bringing a player from the grass roots to the highest level and such remarks from the RPI (A) leader are really shocking.

He also said that the Dalit and the tribal community should have 25% reservation cricket and other sports. “Those who did not perform should be rested and eligible cricketers from the Dalit community should be given a chance in the team,” he was quoted as saying by Rediff.

Athawale went on to the extent of naming Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli among those he thinks underperformed.

Watch the video posted by Times Now where he is justifying why he thinks the game was fixed.