Caught Out Review: This Netflix Documentary Shows The Biggest Scandal That Shook The World Of Cricket

Director: Supriya Sobti Gupta

Cricket is not just a game for Indians. It's an emotion, a religion. Passion takes on the next level when it comes to cricket in India, where cricketers are considered demi-gods. This is the reason why in the 90s, cricket fans all over the nation were shocked by the news of match-fixing entering the gentlemen's game. This 1 hour 17 minutes long documentary puts before us those very uncomforting memories of the times when even some of the well-known names of this game had come under suspicion.

So it goes back to the year 1997 when former cricketer Manoj Prabhakar made allegations on Kapil Dev of offering him 25 lakh rupees to underperform in the game. He told that Kapil was continuously in contact with a bookie. And then the whole matter went on to grow bigger and bigger, taking Mohammad Azaharuddin into its ambit.

With a lineup of some senior journalists and officers of the CBI, this cricket scandal is re-revealed before the audience. Anirudh Bahl, the journalist from Outlook, told how betting caught his attention. While going to cover the matches, he could see the other journalists constantly getting some important information from the bookies. It was from here only that Aniruddh decided to dig deeper. As the story moves ahead, many sensational revelations are made. The scandal of Hansie Cronje took the whole matter in a new direction. Also the confession of the bookie MK Gupta, Prabhakar's claim regarding Kapil Dev, and the arrest of the then star cricketer Mohd. Azharuddin in this case by the CBI, are some of the key highlights covered in this documentary. It is interesting to see the various individual experiences being shared by many journalists and CBI officers. At the same time, a few famous sting operations have also been shown, revealing the nexus of the players with the bookies. The journalists told how the cameras and other equipment were brought by them from London especially for the purpose of the sting operations, as the same was not yet available in India at that time.

However exciting this whole incident might appear to be, it isn't new for cricket fans. The documentary tries to bring forward some new perspectives, such as the network of the bookies, connections to the underworld, helplessness of the cricketers etc., but it all moves ahead very slowly. The documentary lacks pace. Regardless of all, the editing has been done well. All the tracks have been well-spun with some real footage of that time, making the whole watch interesting. It really hits one hard at the end when a CBI officer tells that even though betting is illegal in India, match-fixing is not yet a crime in our country.

Today when match-fixing is not so common anywhere around the world, 'Caught Out' informs us about how the dirt was cleaned out. The documentary makes it at least a one-time watch, regardless of whether one is a cricket lover or not. Originally made in English, 'Caught Out - Crime, Corruption, Cricket' is also available in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu dubbings, and the same is streaming on Netflix since 17 March.