“... The spirit of the game is being killed,” dead-panned Aaj Tak. If CNN-IBN was less violent in its reaction it was because the “Sydney shocker” had stunned it. CCC (Chief Cricket Correspondent!) Nishant Arora recovered sufficiently to say it was an “ugly series... The Australians have a habit — they don’t like people pointing at them...” “Cheats!” Headlines Today pointed the finger at them.

With the umpires dead-goners, Zee decided to finger someone else: “Yuvi kamzor kadi kyon?” it asked. The answer was there on Friday and Saturday: Yuvraj Singh celebrated his birthday on Star News and Aaj Tak with a cake, candles and a red, heart-shaped balloon (Aaj Tak) that bounced off Yuvi’s chest on to Deepika Padukone’s. And Sunday, when India’s Twenty20 hero became a zero in Australia, the camera turned to find Deepika in the stands. Hmmmn.

Monday saw Aaj Tak and Star News at full throttle. Aaj Tak has got a poet’s soul, or at least a rhyming one. No one does headlines better. Commenting on Harbhajan’s ban, it said “Game of shame”. The Indian team’s delayed departure for Perth was “Sydney mein satyagraha”. Meanwhile, Star News has learnt from sister, Star Plus, how to self dramatise. It replayed Bhajji and Symonds like it does those saas-bahu confrontations: Why was Symond’s word taken and not Sachin’s? Blah, blah blah: “Harbhajan ke saath Hindustan”. And then, music. No, it wasn’t the national anthem but could have been.

Did TV go too far? Of course. It was excessive. And, it was what we all wanted to hear. Admit it.

... contd.