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Kumble's Gandhigiri leaves Oz impressed
India skipper, Anil Kumble has taken a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi's teachings by deciding to forgive and forget.
- Anjali Doshi
- Updated: January 16, 2008 04:55 PM IST
Read Time:3 min
Perth:
Team India decided to drop all charges against Australian spinner Brad Hogg. The 36-year-old left arm bowler had been accused of using offensive language against Kumble and MS Dhoni.
Kumble's reply was one that has ensured that the game will go on.
"Cricket is larger than any individual. It is important that we forget what happened in Sydney, it was just one of those bad moments, just an incident probably in the heat of the moment. And we decided as a team to move on and remove the charges against Brad Hogg. It's important that we moved on," said Kumble.
"It's a kind gesture, lovely gesture by the Indian team," Hogg said. "It's much appreciated by myself and the Australian cricket team."
Meanwhile, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting has made an apology of sorts. He said, he made a mistake by not walking away after he had been given out.
In his column in a newspaper, Ponting wrote, "I know when I was given out in the first innings in Sydney I should have left straight away."
About Michael Clarke's dismissal, Ponting wrote, "He knows he did the wrong thing. He knows that he should have gone straight away too."
Both captains have now agreed to discard the catching agreement, which was in place for the first two Tests.
Quid pro quo deal
Now with the charges against Hogg dropped, there is obviously a feeling that this is a quid pro quo deal that has been worked out vis a vis Harbhajan Singh.
However, sources tell NDTV that Australia cannot drop the charges against Harbhajan because the umpires made the charge at the behest of captain Ricky Ponting.
Besides, one hearing has already taken place against Harbhajan, which means an ICC process is already in place.
But the ICC has already indicated that they are willing to be a little flexible with the rules since the Harbhajan appeal is now scheduled for after the Test series, whereas their own rules stipulate that it needs to be dealt with seven-days after the appointment of an appeals commissioner.
However, the most likely scenario is that the appeals commissioner, justice Hansen from New Zealand, may just let off Bhajji because of lack of evidence.
The BCCI though is hoping for the best case scenario which is the charges being dropped.
"I hope that they do it too, but anyway it's a good sign that the Indians have withdrawn their charges. It's a surprising move and it's good if the players sort out their issues on the field rather than taking it to a bigger organisation to sort it out," said Lalit Modi, Vice-President, BCCI.
Kumble felt it was not right to carry on the charge against an Australian player just hours after he had shaken hands with Ponting.
India skipper, Anil Kumble has taken a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi's teachings by deciding to forgive and forget.Team India decided to drop all charges against Australian spinner Brad Hogg. The 36-year-old left arm bowler had been accused of using offensive language against Kumble and MS Dhoni.
Kumble's reply was one that has ensured that the game will go on.
"Cricket is larger than any individual. It is important that we forget what happened in Sydney, it was just one of those bad moments, just an incident probably in the heat of the moment. And we decided as a team to move on and remove the charges against Brad Hogg. It's important that we moved on," said Kumble.
"It's a kind gesture, lovely gesture by the Indian team," Hogg said. "It's much appreciated by myself and the Australian cricket team."
Meanwhile, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting has made an apology of sorts. He said, he made a mistake by not walking away after he had been given out.
In his column in a newspaper, Ponting wrote, "I know when I was given out in the first innings in Sydney I should have left straight away."
About Michael Clarke's dismissal, Ponting wrote, "He knows he did the wrong thing. He knows that he should have gone straight away too."
Both captains have now agreed to discard the catching agreement, which was in place for the first two Tests.
Quid pro quo deal
Now with the charges against Hogg dropped, there is obviously a feeling that this is a quid pro quo deal that has been worked out vis a vis Harbhajan Singh.
However, sources tell NDTV that Australia cannot drop the charges against Harbhajan because the umpires made the charge at the behest of captain Ricky Ponting.
Besides, one hearing has already taken place against Harbhajan, which means an ICC process is already in place.
But the ICC has already indicated that they are willing to be a little flexible with the rules since the Harbhajan appeal is now scheduled for after the Test series, whereas their own rules stipulate that it needs to be dealt with seven-days after the appointment of an appeals commissioner.
However, the most likely scenario is that the appeals commissioner, justice Hansen from New Zealand, may just let off Bhajji because of lack of evidence.
The BCCI though is hoping for the best case scenario which is the charges being dropped.
"I hope that they do it too, but anyway it's a good sign that the Indians have withdrawn their charges. It's a surprising move and it's good if the players sort out their issues on the field rather than taking it to a bigger organisation to sort it out," said Lalit Modi, Vice-President, BCCI.
Kumble felt it was not right to carry on the charge against an Australian player just hours after he had shaken hands with Ponting.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket India Cricket Team Anil Kumble Royal Challengers Bangalore
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