The tragedy of modern-day cricket

Gambhir

Let us begin with the premise that there is no international/professional cricketer who is a paragon of virtue. Gautam Gambhir, or for that matter, Shane Watson, are no exceptions.

If the BCCI is exercised over Gambhir’s one-Test ban following the rejection of his appeal, then the reaction only befits its image of a cash-rich bully who has no qualms of making noise for the sake of it. Unless one is blind, the video footage indicts Gambhir guilty as charged. The BCCI has obviously gone into procedural technicalities that I feel is just mumbo-jumbo.

Ban will make Gambhir more sensible: Afridi

The point is that while Gambhir was undoubtedly guilty of deliberate physical contact, Watson also committed a crime by provoking his opponent. Teams from Down Under, since the days of Ian Chappell, have lived up to their reputation of “Ugly Aussies”. Even in the current series, the Aussies have pulled no punches in sledging and the Indians have given back as good as they got even as both captains chose to look the other way, allowing such gutter-level gamesmanship to flourish.

Earlier this year, the BCCI went to the extremes to support Harbhajan in the sordid “Monkeygate” episode in Sydney, even threatening to pull out of the series. The same Harbhajan was later thrown out of the IPL after he slapped Sreesanth and was caught on camera. By that act of violence, the off-spinner only strengthened the hands of his critics who believed that he was as guilty as Symonds in Sydney.

Complete Coverage: The Sydney Test controversy

The tragedy of modern-day cricket is that there is not a captain who has shown an ability to control his players on the field. Rather, some have even encouraged their wards to indulge in needless sledging and provocative acts to get at the opposition by means most foul. It is all fine to say that the sport needs characters, but cricket would be better off with court jesters than riff-raffs.

It is high time that the ICC makes examples of those who provoke and not just the ones who get provoked.

One way out would be to haul captains over the coals if Sydney and Kotla incidents recur.

I’ve never played for numbers: Laxman

Penalise the skippers too. After all, the scope of captain’s responsibilities goes beyond just playing cricket but also how it is played. Fines make little difference considering the fortunes the cricketers earn. Perhaps, it is time to introduce cards as in football and hockey and leave it to the on-field umpires to deal with situations and their decisions made final and binding. This business of hearings and appeals only provide opportunities to the aggrieved to prolong and even escape punishment.

A ballpark figure of cricketers fined and banned would suggest that the Asians have borne the brunt of ICC’s wrath.

Full Coverage: Australia in India 2008

It is a belief that has gained ground and continues to do so each time a sub-continental cricketer is punished. You only need to research to discover that there have been instances where Asians have been targeted. The names of match referees Mike Denness and Mike Procter come readily to mind.

The onus is on the ICC to rid the game of such suspicions. It is their job.

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