Shane Warne Adds to Another Cricket Controversy

Cricket they say is a gentlemans game but somehow that’s hard to digest. Because for as long as I can remember its never been a gentlemans game. Chess for example is a gentlemans game. That’s not to say that cricket is a slug fest involving monkeys, its good at best of times but definitely not Always

The latest controversy involving Shane Warne has again brought into the light the debate as to where the line has to be drawn between being aggressive & crossing the limits. The incident that Im referring to happened in the KFC Big Bash league, Australia’s own version of the IPL. Unlike the IPL this league doesn’t boast of the same publicity but involves some high class cricketing action. The individuals involved were Shane Warne(Yes he still plays the T20’s when he’s not advertising his poker games on twitter) & West Indian Marlon Samuels, another player who is no stranger to controversies. During the 1^st innings Marlon apparently while bowling didn’t allow David Hussey to take a run by grabbing onto his shirt which is inexplicable! Even for club cricket. The videos the incident that you watch just amaze you into wondering as to what exactly he was thinking. That was done & dusted. But in the 2^nd innings Shane Warne who always loves grabbing eyeballs took it a step further by abusing Marlon while he was batting , then throwing the ball at his body with the customary “F**k you Marlon”. Not the one to be out done Marlon hurled his bat towards Warne. Both have been punished with Warne even getting a match ban. All this in a tournament involving cricketers from around the world. When people anointed T20 cricket as “Masala” cricket I’m sure they didn’t expect so much mirch in it!

Cricket has never been stranger to such controversies. Infact these sort of incidents keep cropping up now & then. And Im not talking about the recent times only. Remember Dennis Lilliee kicking Miandad & Miandad charging towards him with his bat? That was probably one of the most disgraceful moments on a cricket fields. Sunil Gavaskar would probably say that the Aussie got away just coz the laws always favour non sub continental countries. For that matter even Navjoth Singh Siddhu had a major altercation with Aamir Sohail on the field where bats were pointed, tongues wagged. During the recent world cup SA’s FAF Du Plesis had a go at the New Zealand players. Another famous on field fight was the one involving Glen Mcgrath & Ramnaresh Sarwan. A lot has been discussed about Harbajan Singhs “Monkeygate” with Symonds & also his “slapgate” with Sreesanth. Why even the normally mild& unflappable Rahul Dravid got involved in a fracas with Michael Slater.

So why do these players get into such fights. A very common reason that the commentators(which you can even hear in the Shane Warne Video) give during such instances is that its coz these players play with a lot of passion & that they play with their heart on their sleeves. So the question is that can this be used as an excuse for a Virat Kohli to abuse every time he holds onto a catch? Worse still is that does it mean that the rest of the mild players like Dravid & Vettori or Misbah Ul Haq don’t play with equal passion just coz they don’t glare at the opposition or swear at them? Most of the times its just the antics to grab the eyeballs, none better than our very own Sreesanth. Another name that comes to mind is Andre Nel & who can forget that famous bat whirling dance Sreesanth did to annoy Nel. The one memory I have of contrasting notions about aggression on the field is during Indias tour to Autralia. Javagal Srinath bowled a bouncer to Ponting which hit his helmet as he was ducking. Srinath immediately raises his hand & apologises(which is not seen in the video I’ve posted) which he absolutely didn’t need to, and what does Ponting do? He begins abusing Srinath asking him to go back, one of the many reasons Ill never hail him as a great sportsman.



One would say that the cricketers of yesteryears didn’t indulge in sledging. Well that might be true but then how much proof do we have for it? Those were the days when there were probably 3 or 4 cameras in total on the ground. And not all the matches were telecasted live. These days atleast one of the 30 cameras will catch every minute antic of the player. Everything is scrutinied in detail. Today before you even know it, a tiny incident is blown out of proportion by the media. Players too seem to love to “play the camera” as they say. They know that millions are watching at home. Aggression has its place in cricket but it shouldn’t get out of hand. Everyone enjoys watching a bit of banter on the field. Who can forget the famous incident during the 96 world cup when Aamir Sohail after hitting a boundary off the bowling of Venkatesh Prasad asked him to go & fetch the ball, the bowler responded by getting him bowled next ball. That’s hair raising stuff, isn’t it? Also Javed Miandads antics with Kiran More will always be remembered in a jovial manner.It’s one of the reasons you’d watch the match over & over again! But do you feel the same when Sreesanth has a go at the batsman ball after ball or when the Aussie fielders & bowlers engage in so called “mental disintegration” of the batsmen?  So the line between being aggressive & rowdy is a very fine one. Things should never get physical in any sport but that is what has happened with the latest incident. What message do the youngsters who watch the game at home?

Everything That Is Wrong With Indian Cricket!

Before the start of the India England test series everyone had been bemoaning the fact that India had lost 8 test matches in a row against Australia & England in “away” conditions. Almost all the players especially the batsmen had received flak except for perhaps Virat Kohli. “They cant play swing, they cant adjust to pace, they don’t know how to hold the bat…..” Our bowlers too especially the pace bowlers who were expected to do well in helpful conditions were found wanting. Everything from ‘Too much 20 – 20’ to ‘too many advertisements’  had been quoted as the reason for the failures by the public… As usual! The age old theory of how the pitches in India weren’t competitive were put forward by the cricket pundits…. As usual





Leaving all that aside, I found the above score card courtesy cricinfo.com of a match between UP & Maharashtra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. And this one score card perhaps symbolises what is wrong with Indian Cricket. Here is a test match in which the side batting 1^st i.e Maharashtra batted for the first 3 days! Yes 3 whole days amassing 700 plus runs without even being all out. Some of the batting scores there are mighty impressive indeed.A triple century! Wow K Jadav should replace Sachin Tendulkar at no.4 in the Indian team, shouldn’t he? When was the last time the Indian team scored 700? 0r 600? Or 500 in England? Looking at the bowling card probably will bring you tears, what with bowlers bowling 40 to 50 overs without anything to show for it. In reply the Suresh Raina led UP didn’t do badly either. On a 4^th & 5^th day pitch they managed 600 odd runs without being all out again. Our world cup wonder Piyush Chawla scoring more than a run a ball 150 to punish the opposition for making him bowl 50 overs in the sun. Either there wasn’t any wear & tear of the pitch or the batsmen were exceptional…. No prizes for guessing which one.

How can one expect India to produce International cricketers if such matches are played at the domestic level. How can you expect better crowds in the stadium? Not even 2 innings completed, below average cricketers made to look like super stars. How are the selectors supposed to judge players from such matches. We shout over roof tops that we don’t have “really fast” bowlers in the Indian team when Pakistan seem to produce one every month. Who would be stupid enough to want to be a fast bowler & bowl for 3 days on a pitch that resembles a highway! Whats worse is that Maharashtra have roped in former English all rounder Dermot Reeve as their coach to polish their skills & make them better cricketers. Is this how he trains them, by batting for 3 days? Isnt there something called sportsman spirit in the game? He came under severe criticism from the opposition captain Suresh Raina, one will never know if Suresh Raina would have done the same if he had batted first but we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. But Raina better forget that & worry about the fact that he scored a duck on a pitch that Piyush scored 150, pretty embarrassing for both of them! And then they ask what is wrong with Indian cricket…….