An inquiry finally showed that Harbhajan had not made the offensive remark, but — intended or not — it may have seemed to the players that they were being sent a message that any bad behaviour, unless it is racist, is fine.

It’s almost surreal that a man who was part of the team management that gave the “Lord Hanuman is worshipped back home” analogy to defend Harbhajan during the crisis Down Under, Lalchand Rajput (then India’s assistant coach and now coach of IPL’s Mumbai team), has been punished as well. Video evidence shows he did not stop Harbhajan from delivering the monumental smack that resulted in Sreesanth’s torrent of tears.

As for Sreesanth, he bowled the spell of his life against South Africa at the Wanderers in the December of 2006. He hit the deck seam-up, got the ball to dart in and move away with such random regularity that he single-handedly took India to a historic victory. But what endeared him to us that afternoon wasn’t his technical brilliance. It was his scowl to Smith, his verbal exchange with Prince, his wild appeals, and the pelvic thrusts after he hit Andre Nel for six that really captured our imagination. The break-dancer had arrived.

There is a thin line between aggression and hostility, and Sreesanth crosses it too many times. But he is called brilliant on the morning he gets five for 40 and uncouth when he goes wicket-less for 40 from six overs. It’s no surprise then that he has today been reduced to a confused, unfortunate caricature of a flawed system.

... contd.