Saturday, January 12, 2008

The Border Gavaskar Trophy fiasco

If you are not a cricket fan or haven't been following the Australia-India Series in Australia you have missed a lot of action, both on the field and off the field. It all started when the umpires started giving out incorrect decisions (not just the field umpires but the 3rd umpire too) then the Australians decided not to walk even when they were clearly out and then on the field started appealing for non-existent catches. As the test progressed it just got worse as they accused Harbhajan of being racist and finally on the last day they bowled india out thanks to another set of bad umpiring decisions. Eventually they did equal that record of 16 unbeaten test winning streak.

This is an overtly dramatic video but the only which covered most of the incorrect umpiring decisions.



This not just created an outrage in India but also Australia where some of the prominent critics slammed Ponting for his unsportsmanlike behaviour. After the BCCI and the Indian Officials complained about bad umpiring standards, the ICC finally relented and decided to replace Bucknor.



The question to ask here is what is the point of winning if no one is enjoying it and that to at who's expense. Australia's victory today was Cricket's loss. Cricket has been called as a Gentleman's game but what the Australians did (along with the umpires) puts a big blemish on game and its history. It destroys the spirit in which the game has been played all these years.

Anyways I hope everything goes back to normal and ICC implements some stern rules to avoid such scenarios in future. As a cricket fan my only wish is to see some really good quality games.

Bitter sweet revenge: India beat Australia in the 3rd test thus setting up an interesting contest at Adelaide.

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