The Cricket Thread

[freedom]

All is well that ends well. Even after winning, there are some serious issues that need to be addressed.

Hope Ranchi is a hard flat pitch and batsmen get a chance to hit on the up. A flat pitch will automatically make Ashwin a lot more lethal than Aussie spinners.
Ashwin and Jadeja need to put their head down and make an effort to bat longer. Both have batting talent to score 30 consistently.

[Sawyer]

IMO the most serious issue to be addressed is the one flagged by Mukul Kesavan in his article, on the cheating allegations that Kohli has made.
Mukul says:
1. The accusations are serious enough to warrant Smith losing his captaincy if proved
2. As Kohli himself said, these are easily proved/disproved without needing any lengthy process
3. If disproved, Kohli should lose his captaincy for making a reckless charge

I agree. People in the public domain ought to be held to very high standards if one expects them to set an example. And as in this case, are paid more than handsomely.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. The record indicates that nothing more than a reprimand is likely; people in the public domain are never found guilty of anything these days. And an example is set for the next generation by that example as to what is really meant by words like "spirit of the game" or, in politics, "public service".

Article here: http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/the-enor...-lateststories

Comments that follow there are also indicative of the outcome of the example that has been set so far.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

It isn't just unbecoming, it is taking advantage that isn't allowed and can therefore be called cheating - as Kohli implied later. And if this was not an isolated instance, as Kohli also said, then it needs to be a louder and clearer accusation of cheating, with consequences delivered to the guilty side.

Agreed. Absolutely disgusting behaviour. But the Aussies are known to play dirty and don't give two hoots about ethics, so long as they are on the winning side. I hope the ICC takes notice of this and initiates disciplinary proceedings against Smith and Co.

[Sawyer]

I just saw the entire Smith dismissal for the first time on video. There is no doubt that Smith and his partner are guilty in that instance. His partner, Handscomb can be seen to say - I don't know, ask the dressing room. Which prompts Smith to do just that.

That by itself needs a reprimand of some severity on both. But the Kohli accusations are even more serious - that this was happening often in the match. Someone has to be sacked. Either Smith or Kohli, for bringing the game into disrepute.

But this spirit of the game is just something everyone talks about now and does nothing to keep alive. Except, to my best recall, the NZ team. Everywhere else it is long dead and buried.

Equally silly is the nonsense every player spouts now about "things that happen on the field should stay on the field". That defense went away when TV cameras/long lenses/stump mikes invaded the field of play and players can't even complain about that because it is from where - in terms of exposure - they get their fancy pay packets now. The field has become public domain now and administrators have to stop pretending otherwise and do wishy washy things so as to not rock any boats.

Come to think of it, if the "on the field staying on the field" claim is to be shouted, there should be no DRS!

[hemanth.anand]

• That underarm bowling
• Those claimed catches by Ponting&co. at SCG in 2007-08
• The Sledging (a term specially coined by and for Autralian cricketers...if done by others it was dissent and/or abuse till recently)
• And now this DRS help from dressing room (Brainfade it seems )

Its nothing new for the Australians isn't it? The only thing new is that they are getting it back.
We Indians are not used to this, Australians are not used to this, The entire cricketing world is not used to this. But it's time everyone gets used to it. It's time Australians get used to this.
Kohli is that aggressive, in-your-face guy like whom we had not seen earlier. Sourav himself told yesterday that he was not even half of what Kohli is.
In his post match conference, Kohli spoke straight, no beating around the bush. But still he didn't utter the word cheating.

I'm loving this!

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

In his post match conference, Kohli spoke straight, no beating around the bush. But still he didn't utter the word cheating.

Nothing wrong with that, and nothing even wrong in saying that this was cheating. Why be shy in drawing the obvious conclusion?
But for this to be acceptable behaviour from an Indian cricket Captain, it needs to be the truth. Otherwise what is the difference from politicians?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Nothing wrong with that, and nothing even wrong in saying that this was cheating. Why be shy in drawing the obvious conclusion?
But for this to be acceptable behaviour from an Indian cricket Captain, it needs to be the truth. Otherwise what is the difference from politicians?

Yes. Kohli also told "I myself saw two times and I can vouch for that"
I'm sure the refrees and other officials will now have a lot of video footages to watch. Like you siad, Either Smith or Kohli will get some punishment now; a severe one for Smith.

[srishiva]

I hope Kohli behaves better too. He is too distracted concentrating on sledging and joking with Aussie batsmen that he doesnt realize when the ball comes his way in slips.

In the first innings during Umesh Yadav's bowling, he was no where trying to concentrate on his fielding. Its good that we won and its not a big deal.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Mukul says:
1. The accusations are serious enough to warrant Smith losing his captaincy if proved

At the most, Smith maybe reprimanded or fined! Don't expect the match referee to do anything more.

3. If disproved, Kohli should lose his captaincy for making a reckless charge

The above statement is itself reckless & outrageous!

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by PPS

The above statement is itself reckless & outrageous!

Lol. An opinion that is no surprise. That people in places of authority can say serious things that are proved to be wrong, with no consequences or fear of punishment.

[naveenvenkatesh]

What a match! I am glad i went to Chinnaswamy yesterday. The best 400 bucks i have spent in a long time.

I can understand the reaction of folks here to Kohli's antics but i was watching what the AUS players were doing to Indians. So whatever the indians dished out to them was justified in my opinion.

There is no point being nice and getting yelled at i think. You need to give it back in the only language they understand.

Smith should get one match suspension for unsportsman like conduct and bringing the game to disrepute. I don't think it will happen. When was the last time any Aussie player was reprimanded! I can't recall. The only think India can do is give it to them on the field. I am with Kohli and Co on this one.

[Sawyer]

Does anyone remember Tendulkar ever being sledged? Even when he wasn't in the best of form? Dravid? Laxman? Did they have any less steel? Did they play only polite teams? Did they not beat Australia quite often?

Every team clearly understands the language of being out bowled, out batted and out fielded. More clearly than any sledging because with sledging it is very easy to retaliate - it does not take any special skills to match abuse for abuse, just a fast motormouth. Doing that with your game is more difficult and ultimately, more meaningful.

I agree that Smith ought to be punished. But the point is that if his/his team's conduct was as alleged to be by Kohli, it goes deeper into systematic cheating territory and a one match suspension - the punishment for something as ordinary as slow over rates - isn't enough. But what if the allegations made in the press conference are false?

[carwatcher]

One thing that amazes me and is a big puzzle to me is that why the person reacting is always blamed, criticised or punished and why not the one who initiated it.

If Aussies start sledging, players of any team be it SA, SL or IND, etc get suspended if they react by paying it back and Aussies are let off with warning.

Even on Team BHP I have witnessed numerous instances where the person posts something offensive, and if others post their reactions, they get infractions, warnings or their posts get deleted or edited but the original posts remain as it is. This is a big mystery I could never solve. Can someone enlighten me about this aspect of human psychology.

No offense to anyone.

[Sawyer]

Something that I picked up today, that I have NOT verified:
"When Pujara was given lbw which he declined to review in the 2nd innings of 1st test in Rajkot against England he got a clear signal from the dressing room to go back and review the decision."
If this is true - and I repeat the "if" because I don't know if this is true - what does this say?

[naveenvenkatesh]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Does anyone remember Tendulkar ever being sledged? Even when he wasn't in the best of form? Dravid? Laxman? Did they have any less steel? Did they play only polite teams? Did they not beat Australia quite often?

Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid were sledged numerous times both in AUS and IND by Brett Lee, Siddle etc. Brett Lee even admitted on air that he had a go against Tendulkar several times. But the trio were not retaliating. But Kohli is different.

In my opinion, both need to be accepted. They are cricketers from different generations and mindset. Having less or more steel is not relevant.

Ultimately, it comes to the perceived superiority of the white race Vs others. Any action that shifts the balance is constructed as arrogance and unjust by asians but the same behavior from the white folks is encouraged as aggression and mind games. Take Harbhajan episode or Tendulkar ball tampering. Its interesting that same White match referees are so harsh to the asian teams and look the other way when ENG or AUS commit similar or even worse transgressions.

When will it end?