Dhoni's sporting gesture: Who's said what!

The world's divided on MS Dhoni's decision to recall Ian Bell after he was contentiously given out before tea on Day 3 of the Trent Bridge Test. Read on.

MEN IN QUESTION

Ian Bell: It was being naive on my part to assume the ball was dead and walk off for tea, it was stupid.

Ian Bell: I've learnt a big lesson. In the end, the right decision was made by both teams. The way they handled the situation was fantastic. It was an honest mistake and the right decision was made.

Rahul Dravid: If the laws of the games are strictly adhered to, he probably was out. But in the spirit of the game it didn't think right. (Skipper Mahendra Singh) Dhoni and the team felt the right thing to do was to ask him to bat again.

MEN IN FAVOUR

Sourav Ganguly: The former India captain said at the time the incident happened that Dhoni should immediately call back Bell. Sourav stood his ground saying Bell never looked like he was going for a run and that Abhinav Mukund's body language proves that he was only knocking off the bails because it was tea. Sourav's guess is that the 'seniors' in the team probably told Dhoni to change his decision. Well done Sourav for sticking your neck out right from the beginning.

Anil Kumble: I am really proud of the team for playing the game in the right spirit. Although they took 20 minutes to take the decision.

Michael Atherton: I don't think India did anything wrong and in this instance the spirit of the game has subverted the laws of the game.

Shane Warne: I think the lucky thing is everyone had 20 minutes to work out what to do; what is the politically correct thing to do, what is the spirit of the game... If you look back now, the outcome was probably the right outcome.

Sunil Gavaskar: The former captain sounded happy that India had become 'ruthless' when they appealed for Bell's dismissal. He said, "why does everyone expect India to be sporting all the time". Post Dhoni's change of mind, Sunny applauded the decision but didn't seem convinced. Sunny said Ian Bell could have gone one up on Dhoni by refusing to accept being recalled! The little master also suggested that the Indian team might have changed their mind during tea after a 'call from India'.

Raina on Twitter: You play to win of course, but I feel right decision has been made.. MS your beauty mate..It feels great to play under your leadership.

MEN AGAINST THE DECISION

Michael Holding: 'Whispering Death' believes the Indian team has set the wrong precedent by allowing bell to come back and that bell should not have been allowed to resume his innings

Ian Botham in his column: Ian Bell is a very lucky boy. Having been legitimately run out by the Indians with his mind on a huge round of applause and a cup of tea he had no right to expect to be batting after the break.... I would have had no problem if he (Dhoni) had upheld it and sent a message about dopey cricket.

David Lloyd: Speaking as an umpire they did exactly right, but from a personal view it just didn't look right. I'll tell you something else, Suresh Raina thinks it's four because he's picked the helmets up and he's started walking off.

SOME JUST LOVE RUBBING SALT

Michael Vaughan: Everyone was a bit scrambled after tea. The day will always be remembered for the run out of Bell and it certainly ended up affecting India more than England. You could tell the booing by the crowd rattled them.

Shane Warne on Twitter: What a last delivery before tea-huge controversy Much as we don't like to see dismissals like that-Bell made careless mistake-no doubt-out!

Nasser Hussain: Bad luck Ian Bell, you made a mistake and this game is about not making mistakes.