Earnest attempt at uncovering the truth behind the match-fixing saga, but fails to highlight any new information, observes Namrata Thakker.
Caught Out: Crime. Corruption. Cricket sheds light on the match-fixing scandal that shocked cricketing fans in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The documentary is an earnest attempt at uncovering the truth behind the match-fixing saga, but fails to highlight any new information.
If you are an ardent cricket fan, this documentary will not be a riveting watch. Neither will it be entertaining.
But if you are someone who does not followed cricket, Caught Out would be a good one-time watch.
The documentary starts with former cricketer Manoj Prabhakar claiming to be bribed by a senior cricketer and then going on to become the whistleblower for the match-fixing scandal around 1997.
A detailed expose is carried out by a well-known magazine, but the story hardly does any damage in the cricketing world.
Later in the documentary, Prabhakar reveals it was ex-Indian captain Kapil Dev who apparently tried to bribe him and sabotage India’s game against Pakistan.
We even see old footage of Kapil Dev reprimanding Prabhakar for his false accusations.
While Kapil Dev’s name was cleared from the scandal, Prabhakar ends up facing punishment for being in contact with bookies.
Next, the movie explores the Hansie Cronje episode and how the then South African captain was involved in the scandal back in 2000.
After his confession, the cricketing world took note of the scandal more seriously.
Since Cronje confirmed even Indian players were involved, the Board of Control for Cricket in India finally decides to investigate the matter.
The documentary then moves onto Mohammad Azharuddin and a bookie named M K Gupta.
How Azharuddin ends up being caught in the match-fixing scandal and how the latter helps getting him to confess his crime forms the rest of the story.
Throughout the documentary, veteran sports journalists and ex-CBI officials give their account of the scandal and how it unfolded back in the day.
The second half of the documentary focuses on Azharuddin and how he pleads his innocence once the BCCI bans him from playing cricket for life.
At one point, there’s talk about the infamous Dawood Ibrahim heading the match-fixing scandal from Dubai. but there’s no deep-dive into that angle which is disappointing.
Even the M K Gupta segment is covered in a hurry and we don’t get to see too many details about him.
It seems the makers of Caught Out: Crime. Corruption. Cricket only scratched the surface of the scandal.
Instead of creating a documentary on information that is already in the public domain consumed by cricket lovers over the years, Director Supriya Sobti Gupta should have made a docu-series exploring the subject in depth with the IPL also having bitten by the match-fixing bug.
Caught Out. Crime. Corruption. Cricket currently streams on Netflix.
Caught Out. Crime. Corruption. Cricket Review Rediff Rating:
