Monday, January 07, 2008

Harbhajan ban: time for us to set things right...

Sydney test had been a fantastic great test match - for the fight that Indian team put it, I seriously don't mind the result. However, Australian team, umpires and the match referee deserve no respect what-so-ever.

It's been 3-4 days since Aussie's first complained against Harbhajan - for apparently calling Symonds a 'monkey'! I just can't believe it. This is just stupid. You don't need a masters degree in lip reading to understand the kind of language Australians use on the field - apparently all that is absolutely normal stuff for them. The world's best performing team "yes", but one seriosuly needs to question the way they are playing cricket. I would instead watch an ethical Kenya team defeated by most teams by an innings and 450 runs play cricket as opposed to the current Australian lot.

That's not the end of the story - the umpires and the match referee join the party as well. The number of decisions that have gone against India cannot be defined as 'errors' even by the probability corresponding to the long tail of a normal distribution function. Statistically, it is impossible to be at the receiving end of the umpire goof ups so often. Steve Bucknor should be sent out of the game right away - this is not the first time this has happened.

Match referee deserves a spot light as well - what a decision to suspend Harbhajan for 3 tests. If this ban is to be enforced, lets set the whole system right. Suspending the entire Australian team wouldn't be enough. ICC would need to invent a time machine, go back in time and suspend all current and retired players from 1995 or so.

I am a bit worked up - this is not an issue of "just a game of cricket". There is more to it. This is racism at its peak. Team India is representing India the nation as well. There is a narrow line that separates "Well, lets just take the crap" and "compromising on self-respect"... and the line has been crossed. Irrespective of the fine (I hear it is $2.3Mn), team India should call off the tour - no matter what it is, BCCI has sufficient corpus to take the hit. It is a situation far from "for sake of the game and the relationship between the two nations, lets get on with cricket" - India should pack up and leave Oz land right away.

There are millions of viewers world over who are crazy about cricket, just as I am. We watch the game under the assumption that it is fair for one and all. We respect umpire's decisions, assuming that it is a simple case of human error, never for once doubting the "intent". We assume that match referees are there to make sure that things go in the spirit of the game and are the match is fair to one and all. When that basic assumption goes for a toss, I seriously wonder why we have woken up at 3am to watch a test match irrespective of anything else for over two decades - be it long work hours, board exams, etc, etc - just about anything on this planet.

Some very strong and serious measures need to be taken here. This is simply not done - unless the ban is revoked, the umpires/ match referee changed and punished, a few Australian players banned, I refuse to watch the scheduled 3rd test match at Perth. There is absolutely no need to be diplomatic anymore.

... may be, I will chill down in sometime, but I don't think I am gonna edit this post very much even after my head gets down to its STP (standard temperate and pressure)