On Monday January 7, Indian cricket player Harbhajan was banned for making a racist remark against the Australian player Andrew Symonds during their tempestuous defeat to Australia in the second Test. Singh was found guilty of breaching the players' code of conduct. The International Cricket Council held a four-hour hearing after the Test finished on Sunday, finally announcing their verdict deep into the night in Australia. Things apparently got ugly and pretty quick afterwards.Indian cricket team threatened to walkout of the Australian Tour unless the ban on Singh is nullified. The Team contends that there is no hard evidence that Singh made any such insensitive remarks. The Indian team alleged that they were in fact the subjects of discrimination from the test match officials. They allege that Symonds was declared not-out when he was clearly out, which made all the difference in the first test.
The most recent news is that Team India decided to continue with the tour. Of course, you can get this news from any news outlet. However, how do you react to this bizzare set of events?
India and Australia were not strangers to such high drama. Here is a recount of the drama that happened during the 1981 Melbourne Test from Rediff.com.
G R Vishwanath batted as only as he can, scoring 114 in India's first innings score of 237. Australia replied strongly with 417, Allan Border hitting a gritty 124 and veteran Doug Walters scoring a brisk 78. Spinners Dilip Doshi and Shivlal Yadav sent down 84 overs between them capturing five wickets for 209 runs while Karsan Ghavri and Sandeep Patil claimed two each. The match seemed lost.
True to tradition, India's second innings was a different story. Skipper Sunil Gavaskar and his partner Chetan Chauhan were cool and confident and the runs began to flow. The century partnership arrived and the Australian bowlers did not look like taking any wickets.
When the stand reached 165, the drama began. Dennis Lillee was the bowler. Gavaskar was rapped on the pads, there was a huge appeal, and the umpire raised his finger. Gavaskar looked at the umpire disbelievingly and indicated his bat to convey the message that he had played the ball.Lillee, always the showman, ran down the pitch and ordered Gavaskar to walk. Words were exchanged. Gavaskar, furious, did walk, but indicated to Chauhan to leave the crease and return to the pavilion as well! What was going on, everyone wondered.
Disgusted with the overall umpiring standards on the tour and this decision in particular, the captain wanted to walk away with his partner. It would have amounted to conceding the Test match to the Australians, something that had never happened before.
The patient Chauhan talked urgently to the captain and signalled to the pavilion. The team manager, Wing Commander Durrani, trooped to the ground. As the disbelieving Australians watched, he persuaded the captain to return to the pavilion and allow the game to continue.
After things had cooled down, Gavaskar, while maintaining that he had played the ball and hence was not out, apologised for his actions. Dennis Lillee in his book Over and Out claimed that Gavaskar had not played the ball at all and was clearly out.
Anyway, in an action-packed match, this incident stood out. But there was more drama on the field. After losing Chauhan for 85, India were all out for 324. Yadav, whose fractured toe was encased in plaster, volunteered to bat and was ready with his pads on. Kapil Dev injured his ankle badly and hobbled along and it was doubtful if he could bowl when Australia batted again, needing only 142 to win.
What hurt the Indians more was the attitude of some people who were present at a private party that the Indians attended that night. Rude comments were made about their cricketing ability. It was like the nightmarish reception at the Indian high commission in London on the evening of the 1974 Lord's Test after the Indians were bowled out for 42. Everyone, including the high commissioner, was rude to the players!
So the Indians had something to prove. Though they had lost Dyson and Chappell, the hosts were expected to win comfortably. Kapil was on pain killers, Yadav could not field or bowl. But Dilip Doshi kept one end going (two for 33 in 22 overs) and Kapil used the helpful wicket to devastating effect. Bowling off a shortened run, he moved the ball both ways and cut it off the pitch to finish with five wickets for 28 runs in 16.4 overs. His victims? Bruce Yardley, Allan Border, Rodney Marsh, Dennis Lillee and Jim Higgs.
India achieved a remarkable victory. Though I was not at the finish I celebrated with the rest of the nation. Greg Chappell gave way to Kim Hughes as the captain. But to this day, the Melbourne Test is remembered for Gavaskar's action in walking away with his partner Chetan Chauhan, ready to give the match away to the opposition!
Dennis Lillie's infamous 'Howzaaat' stance and his trying to hush Gavaskar out of the grounds was only the trigger for Gavaskar's reaction. included among several other reasons for this was a news paper column written by former Australian skipper Ian Chappel, the older brother of Greg Chappel. In that column Ian Chappel wrote the following (I am paraphrasing):
"If Indians cannot take the Australian heat, they should go and play in the shades with a club team in Sri Lanka." (At that time, Sri Lanka was not yet a test playing country.)
This is history. But the present is not as bad. If Singh actually hurled the alleged racial remarks, he deserves the ban. What do you think?
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