India in Australia

[mattfb]

He waited until the umpire gave him out and thats not the only incident, if this so called agreement between ponting and kumble was made about playing in the spirit of cricket and walking when you are out then why on earth didnt ponting or symonds do that on the first day when they knew they were out.

The agreement doesn't have anything to do with walking.... Most people dont.

About the Clarke incident I dont know what he was doing. And about saying Symonds wasn't ready.. I'm just going by what the commentators said, he didn't have his pads on.

 

[shravi]

This series really is going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. I just want to see India take to the field in the third test match and see some good, hard cricket being played. The situation should be dealt with, but pulling out is running away from your problems. It's not the answer.

 

[harishankar]

What annoys us is not so much the Aussie aggression but their double standards in insisting that other teams don't have the same level of aggression on the field.

It's the Aussies who've acted like sore losers by pursuing the complaint against Harbhajan.

I bet in the past many Australian players would have taunted opponents in a similar manner and got away with it...

This series really is going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. I just want to see India take to the field in the third test match and see some good, hard cricket being played. The situation should be dealt with, but pulling out is running away from your problems. It's not the answer.

How can the two captains even face each other after all that's been said in the last couple of days.

In such a situation you could cut the tension with a knife.

There will be no spirit between the two sides any more...

 

[mattfb]

What annoys us is not so much the Aussie aggression but their double standards in insisting that other teams don't have the same level of aggression on the field.

It's the Aussies who've acted like sore losers by pursuing the complaint against Harbhajan.

I bet in the past many Australian players would have taunted opponents in a similar manner and got away with it...

But we won.. India are being the sore losers by trying to pull out of the tour. And its not war on the field, its cricket. Peoples lifes arent in danger so the tour can go on :

 

[angryangy]

On the one hand, I do think there is a bit of a sleeping giant in the Australian camp, they will be a bit indignant and in past any time they have felt the need to prove a point woe befall the team they prove it against. The selectors won't be deluded and are always prepared to make tough decisions.

On the other side, I am only hopeful that the Indians get past all this. It is an unending distraction and with the suggestion of pulling out of the tour; and I don't want this to sound sanctimonious; but they need to be tougher about it. They need to be able to think along the lines of "well that was unfair, but our best cricket will overcome anything like that".

Mental toughness is something that Indian pundits and onlookers alike have considered a key problem in past and it's certainly not because they are stupid, rather, mental toughness is often about banishing inhibitive thoughts once you have made your decision. Commitment to a plan is the most important part of a plan, no matter how clever.

As I said, I am only hopeful that they sit down and think "let's get on with it". If they are genuinely thinking that making threats is the best course of action, then I don't think they will simply turn around and play their best cricket. They need to believe that the next two games are the most important thing to do, not the most important thing to avoid.

 

[harishankar]

But we won.. India are being the sore losers by trying to pull out of the tour. And its not war on the field, its cricket. Peoples lifes arent in danger so the tour can go on :

There's more things in life than being in physical danger.

You might not understand this because your historical background is different, but Indians have a sense of history that we cannot tolerate this discrimination.

And the ICC has always upheld bans against Asian players while letting off Australian, English and South African players for similar offences.

So you're damn right. It's war. It's not a fighting war maybe, but a war of words. Do you think I'm an isolated fan stating this? See the Indian media for the level of outrage against the Australians.

Do you believe that the two teams can ever make up before the Perth Test after the ICC hearing?

I don't... because the racism issue is far more serious than playing a game of cricket and that has completely ruined this tour.

 

[varunvgiri]

Bucknor should not be banned for life. What a ridiculous suggestion.

Well, he should not be banned, he should be asked to retire.

He is already past the retirement age for umpires (60). He was given an extension. But, clearly his performance is nowhere near acceptable standards. His performance has been below par not only in this match, but for some time now. So, why should he continue then?

Besides, cricket as a sport should encourage younger umpires. There is no need to give extensions to umpires who are past their retirement age. Their spot should be given to younger, more capable men.

 

[mattfb]

There's more things in life than being in physical danger.

You might not understand this because your historical background is different, but Indians have a sense of history that we cannot tolerate this discrimination.

And the ICC has always upheld bans against Asian players while letting off Australian, English and South African players for similar offences.

So you're damn right. It's war. It's not a fighting war maybe, but a war of words. Do you think I'm an isolated fan stating this? See the Indian media for the level of outrage against the Australians.

Do you believe that the two teams can ever make up before the Perth Test after the ICC hearing?

I don't... because the racism issue is far more serious than playing a game of cricket and that has completely ruined this tour.

I haven't been reading up on the racism topic but as far as I know about this topic the Indians didn't get racially abused in the second or first test by Aussie players.

 

[harishankar]

I haven't been reading up on the racism topic but as far as I know about this topic the Indians didn't get racially abused in the second or first test by Aussie players.

Your Australian media has been racially abusing us. Ponting insulted Indian journalists at the press conference.

And the ban on Harbhajan is based on the Australian version of events. Mike Proctor has shown a clear bias here. If there was no audio or video evidence, how can Harbhajan be held guilty on such a serious charge?

If Tendulkar and Kumble aren't believed and there is no real evidence against Harbhajan how fair is it that he was banned? That's what this is all about. The sense of outrage that a senior player like Tendulkar was disregarded while giving evidence in the hearing.

 

[varunvgiri]

And there is extreme short sightedness regarding umpiring decisions - can you not remember that both Laxman and Sachin survived absolutely dead plumb LB decisons very early in their first innings? India can count their lucky stars that this even went into a 5th day. Sure LBs are a little more contentious than caught behinds, but I think India are still winning 2-1 when it came to critical decisions.

Oh my God!! Did I read you right?

Do you remember Symonds in the first innings. We got him out three times. What's with the bad decision on Ponting?



Buttttttttttttttttttt, the most outrageous decision was not one made by Bucknor, but by the third umpire. There is absolutely no justification for giving Symonds not out on that occasion.

 

[SaiSrini]

LOL! You think pulling out of the tour is self pride? I would want ban India from playing Internationals if I was in the ICC for being so immature and pulling out of tours.

Without India, where is the money going to come from? Ask the ICC to do it. Its the culmination of the boards that created the ICC. ICC is not something that was created ever since the emergence of 'Adam & Eve'.

Face it, without India, Cricket would die.

Two thumbs up!

 

[harishankar]

To be honest, I couldn't give a damn about whether cricket would die or not about this tour of Australia.

The fact is that the two teams have damaged their relationship beyond repair.

And I think the same can be said of Indian and Australian fans. We are now sworn enemies on this issue and nothing can shift our stand.The medias of the two countries have already declared war on each other.

Debating it any more is useless.

Playing a cricket match under such circumstances would be worse than farcical.

 

[SaiSrini]

But we won.. India are being the sore losers by trying to pull out of the tour. And its not war on the field, its cricket. Peoples lifes arent in danger so the tour can go on :

Its not war, OK. But the passion for the game in the country is enormous. And thats what makes cricket such a big thing in our country. You guys feed off it when you make tours to India and invite India to a tour in your country. Every country earns for the passion to the game that India brings.

To be honest, I couldn't give a damn about whether cricket would die or not about this tour of Australia.

The fact is that the two teams have damaged their relationship beyond repair.

And I think the same can be said of Indian and Australian fans. We are now sworn enemies on this issue and nothing can shift our stand.The medias of the two countries have already declared war on each other.

Debating it any more is useless.

Playing a cricket match under such circumstances would be worse than farcical.

Absolutely. Its not about the mental side of things. Nobody is scared here. We have been the team that despite the crushing defeat in Mumbai 2001 and the first innings follow on in Kolkatta 2001, came back sensationally to win the series against a certain team (right now, I am starting to even hate the mention of that name!). But that was played in the good spirits, it was played fair, etc. But now its not being played fair. The opposition are playing the game in their own way, they are helped greatly by the umpires, etc. They want it to be a closely fought series (to boost their coffers) and also at the same time, they want their team to prevail big in the end.

Do you believe that the two teams can ever make up before the Perth Test after the ICC hearing?

It wont be a make up, it will be a forced truce just like how it happened with Saurav Ganguly - Greg Chappell (the same war between them is now going on between the two countries). They wil be forced to shake hands with each other, and will be forced to give a smile here or there.

 

[rabbitoh rob]

Its not war, OK. But the passion for the game in the country is enormous. And thats what makes cricket such a big thing in our country. You guys feed off it when you make tours to India and invite India to a tour in your country. Every country earns for the passion to the game that India brings.



Absolutely. Its not about the mental side of things. Nobody is scared here. We have been the team that despite the crushing defeat in Mumbai 2001 and the first innings follow on in Kolkatta 2001, came back sensationally to win the series against a certain team (right now, I am starting to even hate the mention of that name!). But that was played in the good spirits, it was played fair, etc. But now its not being played fair. The opposition are playing the game in their own way, they are helped greatly by the umpires, etc. They want it to be a closely fought series (to boost their coffers) and also at the same time, they want their team to prevail big in the end.



It wont be a make up, it will be a forced truce just like how it happened with Saurav Ganguly - Greg Chappell (the same war between them is now going on between the two countries). They wil be forced to shake hands with each other, and will be forced to give a smile here or there.

Wow one bad games umpiring has turned to this.....good god.

 

[karnog]

To be honest, I couldn't give a damn about whether cricket would die or not about this tour of Australia.

The fact is that the two teams have damaged their relationship beyond repair.

And I think the same can be said of Indian and Australian fans. We are now sworn enemies on this issue and nothing can shift our stand.The medias of the two countries have already declared war on each other.

Debating it any more is useless.

Playing a cricket match under such circumstances would be worse than farcical.

Which is why i've been saying to move on from this test and let team management remove the idiots (umpires). But yes this has deteriorated the already thin relationship.