The Spirit of the Game
Episode 1
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the Spirit of Cricket Award .Dhoni was chosen for the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for his fine gesture of recalling Ian Bell after the England batsman was run out under controversial circumstances during the second Test at Trent Bridge in July.On what was the last ball before tea on the third day, Bell hit the ball towards the boundary. He mistakenly thought it had gone for four, left his crease and headed towards the pavilion assuming the session was over and the ball dead. The ball, which had not reached the rope and therefore was still in play, was returned to the middle, the bails removed and Bell was correctly given run out.Upon reflection during the tea interval and following a request from the England team, Dhoni withdrew the appeal and recalled Bell thus turning boos into cheers from the appreciative Nottingham crowd. Commenting on Dhoni's gesture, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said, "While the initial appeal and umpire decision were correct to the letter of the law, the decision by Mahendra and his team to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity.
We end this by saying well done Dhoni….
Episode 2
In the same series , in the third test , India is battling to save a innings defeat and the last wicket pair of Dhoni and Sreesanth are at the crease. There is no time pressure on England to take the last wicket. And , in these situations , the batsmen protect the tail enders from taking strike and Dhoni was doing exactly that.
This is what happened on the last ball of the 55th over -- here is a extract of the commentary on Cricinfo website
54.6(Over )
Broad to Dhoni, FOUR, 82.0 mph, hehe, this is amusing. Dhoni dug this out towards cover where Pietersen ran past the ball, deliberately not saving it. Broad was thoroughly disgusted but Pietersen knew what he was doing. Strauss has to hide a smile as Broad was seething .
I saw this on TV live and was not amused. Nasser Hussain one of the Commentators at this junction even appreciated what Pietersen did and applauded his knowledge of the game and his focus and went on to say that this focus was brining England victory. Nasser Hussain and Spirit of the game !!
What Pietersen achieved by his unsportsmanlike conduct ensured that Dhoni was off strike and Bresnan had a good go at Sreesanth and Sreesant in fact got out on the third ball of the following over giving England a victory ..
Any awards for Mr. Pietersen ? Did the Edgbaston crowd boo or Cheer Pietersen ?
Episode 3
Watch this Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87m2d6cV4F0
It tells you a tale. England did what is as per the rules and they were right to do so .. What about the Spirit of Cricket.I would be interested in views of Sunil Gavaskar on this . He would have suggested that Dhoni should not have recalled Bell because the rules were followed
To me , it does not apply to the creators of the game !!
.
And every time we have followed the spirit of the game , we have ended up losers !! ( cannot forget the Jubilee test when GR Viswanath recalled Bob Taylor and that recall turned in the match in to England's favour )
So, play hard mate.. That is more important than the Spirit of the game --
I am sure everyone has a view on this !!
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the Spirit of Cricket Award .Dhoni was chosen for the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for his fine gesture of recalling Ian Bell after the England batsman was run out under controversial circumstances during the second Test at Trent Bridge in July.On what was the last ball before tea on the third day, Bell hit the ball towards the boundary. He mistakenly thought it had gone for four, left his crease and headed towards the pavilion assuming the session was over and the ball dead. The ball, which had not reached the rope and therefore was still in play, was returned to the middle, the bails removed and Bell was correctly given run out.Upon reflection during the tea interval and following a request from the England team, Dhoni withdrew the appeal and recalled Bell thus turning boos into cheers from the appreciative Nottingham crowd. Commenting on Dhoni's gesture, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said, "While the initial appeal and umpire decision were correct to the letter of the law, the decision by Mahendra and his team to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity.
We end this by saying well done Dhoni….
Episode 2
In the same series , in the third test , India is battling to save a innings defeat and the last wicket pair of Dhoni and Sreesanth are at the crease. There is no time pressure on England to take the last wicket. And , in these situations , the batsmen protect the tail enders from taking strike and Dhoni was doing exactly that.
This is what happened on the last ball of the 55th over -- here is a extract of the commentary on Cricinfo website
54.6(Over )
Broad to Dhoni, FOUR, 82.0 mph, hehe, this is amusing. Dhoni dug this out towards cover where Pietersen ran past the ball, deliberately not saving it. Broad was thoroughly disgusted but Pietersen knew what he was doing. Strauss has to hide a smile as Broad was seething .
I saw this on TV live and was not amused. Nasser Hussain one of the Commentators at this junction even appreciated what Pietersen did and applauded his knowledge of the game and his focus and went on to say that this focus was brining England victory. Nasser Hussain and Spirit of the game !!
What Pietersen achieved by his unsportsmanlike conduct ensured that Dhoni was off strike and Bresnan had a good go at Sreesanth and Sreesant in fact got out on the third ball of the following over giving England a victory ..
Any awards for Mr. Pietersen ? Did the Edgbaston crowd boo or Cheer Pietersen ?
Episode 3
Watch this Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87m2d6cV4F0
It tells you a tale. England did what is as per the rules and they were right to do so .. What about the Spirit of Cricket.I would be interested in views of Sunil Gavaskar on this . He would have suggested that Dhoni should not have recalled Bell because the rules were followed
To me , it does not apply to the creators of the game !!
.
And every time we have followed the spirit of the game , we have ended up losers !! ( cannot forget the Jubilee test when GR Viswanath recalled Bob Taylor and that recall turned in the match in to England's favour )
So, play hard mate.. That is more important than the Spirit of the game --
I am sure everyone has a view on this !!
Comments
I will see it this way - let us be happy that we demonstrated what it is to indulge in sports. We won, not on paper or in championship, but in sportsmanship. I am sure there will be more people who remember the case #3 for recalling than England winning it!
On a different note, I strongly feel that just because we are honest 'to the core', we cannot expect our opponent to be like that. Our opponent may choose to be just honest enough!! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65_spUU05s&feature=fvwrel
Cricket lovers should recall the 1981 incident of Chappell brothers being not just un-sportive but playing against the rules of the game, and have infact told the umpire that they will do it.
It was not a single or two that you are trying to prevent; but you bowl it to a fresh batsman playing at No 10 and expect to hit a SIX only to tie the game.
Radha