The 628 - India is a law unto herself in cricket
26 Jan 2010 - 01:03:28
A picture is emerging. Many argue the painting was completed as long ago as 2001 when India defied the ICC and played Virender Sehwag who had been banned for excessive appealing by match referee Mike Deness in the Port Elizabeth test.
But more recent events could inspire a work titled 'Arrogant India: a law unto herself in cricket'. The cast or subjects to feature in this work? Harbhajan Singh's recent childish tantrum, Virender Sehwag's tactless and undiplomatic statement on Bangladesh cricket, Lalit Modi's potentially libellous twitter alleging Chris Cairns was a match fixing cheat and the omission of Pakistani players by the IPL. Not a pretty picture is it?
Harbhajan Singh has to be prominent in this painting. Yesterday, the Indian offspinner was officially reprimanded by the ICC match referee Andy Pycroft for kicking and damaging an advertising board after a misfield near the boundary during the first day of the second Test in Mirpur.
A quick search of the ICC webite shows Harbhajan is a serial offender with five violations and an ugly record of poor behaviour towards opponents and umpires; starting in 1998 when he clashed with Ricky Ponting.
Barely a month after he made his test debut, Singh was already up before the beak. After he had Ricky Ponting stumped in a one-dayer in Sharjah, he abused him and pointed him towards the dressing room. Ponting returned verbal fire and moved to chest Harbhajan before the incident was defused.
In 2003, he again clashed with umpires and was fined for abuse and in 2005 he locked horns with South African batsman Ashwell Prince and was fined for pointing him to the dressing room in a one-day match in Hyderabad. Harbhajan has escaped censure for other incidents too. There was an abusive exchange with England's Kevin Pietersen when Harbhajan refused to budge after being bowled in a one-dayer last year.
In 2008 Singh's three-Test ban for racism was overturned. A few months later he assaulted Sreesanth at the end of an IPL match as players shook hands, for which he recieved an 11 week ban and $700,000 fee loss.
Next in the frame for this great work is Lalit Modi who twittered his way to the High court of London last week by accusing Chris Cairns of involvement in match fixing.
Modi twittered- if proved the Twitter account is his- 'Chris Cairns removed from the IPL auction list due to his past record in match fixing. This was done by the Governing council today'.
Unless Modi can prove Cairns' alleged match fixing in a court of law, that statement is palpably libellous. And If Modi can prove what was tweeted, why didn't the proper authories investigate Cairns?
Modi, who welcomed a suit must surely be cast as hubris in this picture. Modi met the threat of Cairn's action with the words "let him sue us, then we will produce what we have to in court. We haven't received anything so far."
If there was any space left on the canvas, lack of tact would be represented by India's stand in captain Virender Sehwag, who was kind enough to tell Bangladesh they were an ordinary team before the test series between the two.
And finally to provide some perspective in the background of this painting, the omission of Pakistani cricketers from this year's IPL. Proof perhaps that India is an unchecked power behaving as it wants, beyond reproach and totally infallible in all areas of cricket.
