They didnt play

Sportspersons are known to miss the main stories of their personal lives. Among cricketers,who live out of suitcases for much of the year,they still marvel at Sachin Tendulkars dedication in 1999. When his father passed away while India were in the midst of the World Cup,he made the briefest of returns home,before rushing back to join his mates in their ultimately lost bid for the title. That story echoed this month,when India forward S.V. Sunil admitted that it was Tendulkars example that inspired him when he heard of his fathers death mid-way through the Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Malaysia. He decided to stay on with his team,which went on to lift the trophy.

There are many ways of keeping allegiance to the team or the flag. This week Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh let their team down. The skipper and his strike spinner were scheduled to receive their Padma Shris at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. They did not turn up,one having left for Mumbai en route to South Africa for the impending IPL season and the other citing family commitments.

There are two parts to this issue. Dhoni and Singh had the option of refusing the award before or after it was announced. And no one should have had a quibble with that. But once they accepted it,they did so as outstanding representatives of their sport. By taking the ceremony as casually as they did,they let down cricket and those who value it. They also let down Indian sport,otherwise well-represented that day by Abhinav Bindra and Pankaj Advani. It was not a good day for cricket.