Bengal players rush to Ganguly's defence
The one-match ban that has been enforced by match referee Barry Jarman on the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has come in for criticism from some of leading cricketers in Calcutta
Sakyasen Mittra
13-Dec-2000
The one-match ban that has been enforced by match
referee Barry Jarman on the Indian captain Sourav
Ganguly has come in for criticism from some of
leading cricketers in Calcutta. Ganguly was
suspended for one match because of his aggressive
appealing on four consecutive deliveries against
Mlulei Nkala of Zimbabwe. All the appeals were
turned down by umpire PC Sathe.
Ashok Malhotra, who is one of the members of the
national selection committee, said on Wednesday,
"Cricket is no more a gentleman's game. All the
norms are not followed. Players these days tend to
appeal aggressively. So Ganguly as the leader of
the team has done just that. He wanted the team to
play aggressive cricket. I would like him to
continue in the same manner."
On the other hand, former India opener Gopal Bose
felt that there is a racial bias involved when
punishments are meted out. "You will see for
yourself that most of the time it is the
cricketers from the Asian sub-continent who are
singled out for punishment. The Australians lead
the field as far as sledging and aggressive
appealing are concerned. How many times are they
pulled up?" Bose also added, "The best umpires
should be on the field. Everybody saw the mistakes
that the umpire has made."
Ganguly's compatriot in the Bengal team, Utpal
Chatterjee also felt that the punishment could
have been avoided. "He reacted more out of
frustration than out of anything else. He never
tried to abuse the umpire." Overall, the reaction
in the city has been that Ganguly has been wrongly
punished. In fact, a large number of local
cricketers felt that the Zimbabwe medium pacer
Bryan Strang should have also been punished for
imitating Ganguly and later on for getting
involved in a verbal duel.