By Engr. Aamir A. Salaria, St. Louis, Missouri
Cricket is a game of gentlemen and must be played in the right spirit in keeping with the dictates of propriety and fair play. The undue hue and cry raised by the Indians over the issue of the fine and suspension sentence levied on six of their players by match referee Mike Dennis of England is thus unwarranted. Dennis also censured star batsman Sachin Tendulkar for ball tempering, excessive appealing and charging the umpire during the recently played Second Test Match against South Africa at Port of Elizabeth.
Nobody is above the law. If Tendulkar and party did something wrong, they should be penalized like everyone else. Every cricketer should be responsible enough to play the game in the right spirit, especially when he is representing the national side in an international fixture. Mike Dennis who is a former England captain has previously officiated in at least six test matches featuring India and got the clean chit from them. This time, he must have come across something real nasty against the “Accused Party of Six” before he took the drastic step of imposing a fine and the suspension sentence .
To nip the evil in the bud, the BCCI should impose severe penalties on players responsible for bringing the game of cricket and the Indian team into disrepute. The Indian cricket community should not get antagonized over this sad and unfortunate incident and instead must take it gracefully as part of the game. The Indian media should also act in a responsible manner. It should refrain from declaring the incident as a “clash of races, civilization and ethnic background.”
Let better sense prevail so that in the end the game of cricket proves to be the winner.