What a hullabaloo all of us have created! Have India and Australia, bound together by our still noble game, gone to war? Words are flying like missiles, positions are being taken as if bunkers were being built. What has happened? An allegation was made and judgement was passed to the contrary. It happens every day.

Australia think India are flexing their muscles, or should one say rupees, unfairly. India think Australia have had things much their own way for too long and the time is nigh for retribution. Newspapers are selling more copies, news channels are filling up time and simple minds are being influenced. Let’s take a backward step, not a great idea on a playing field, especially if you adorn the Aussie coat of arms, but a necessary action off it.

Are India flexing their muscles? Three examples have been given. One, that Steve Bucknor was asked to leave. That happens. Employers sack employees, selectors drop players when they are not performing. Umpires have been asked to leave the elite panel in the past. Two, Harbhajan was allowed to play on. That is part of the ICC’s rules; pending an appeal a cricketer can play. Three, Harbhajan has got away with a slap on the wrist in spite of three players claiming he racially abused Symonds.

Maybe he did, but maybe he didn’t. The players who think they heard what he said might feel disappointed, but that is not how the law works. If judgement was to be handed out based on what one person said versus what another did, the world would become unlivable. People have got off death row for lack of evidence. And I’m afraid cricketers, irrespective of the colour of jersey they wear, have long forfeited the right to have their word trusted. Anybody who appeals knowing a batsman is not out, and in doing so leads an umpire towards making a mistake, cannot ask that his word be taken.

... contd.