Sreesanth must stop tantrums

It is high time that India and specially Sreesanth take guard. The medium pacers antics and tantrums on the field have already brought problems for himself and sooner or later such tantrums might also put the entire Indian team in trouble. Initially when he burst into the international scene, he used to celebrate the fall of a wicket very innocently, joyously running with hands spread like wings in Shoaib Akhtars fashion. Gradually, with the passage of time, as he consolidated his position in the team, the innocence gave way to occasional tantrums and gestures irritating opponent batsmen.

It is true that international cricket these days is fought very hard way and the players must have the attacking spirit. But that dose not mean attacking the opponent player physically. It is against the rules of cricket and that is exactly what Sreesanth did during the second test of the current series against England. He was completely wayward and totally ineffective, struggling to get back rhythm. He was utterly frustrated. The frustration found it’s out let in some most unsavoury manner. He cursed the opponent batsmen and even tried to walk through the English captain Michael Voughan once. In the “gentleman’s game of cricket” no other physical contact except shaking hands is encouraged. Sreesanth has been found guilty and has been penalized by the match referee Ranjan Madugalle and the medium pacer has to part with half of his match fee as fine.

Test bowlers easily get irritated. But it was sickening to see Sreesanth hurling a beamer at Kevin Petersen and again releasing a bouncer that was bowled from about a couple of feet beyond the approved line. Day by day and match by match Sreesanth’s on-field misdeeds are increasing. The captain and the team management must interfere right away and tell the young lad that no such nonsense will be tolerated any further. After all the cricketers are considered to be the ambassadors of good will. They cannot be allowed to tarnish the image of India.

It is not that Indian players are alone at fault in this regard. On field tantrums and sledging are quite rampant these days. The tag, “the gentleman’s game” used to be attached to cricket has long lost it’s meaning. Gone are the days when the game was played with great sportsman spirit, when honest performance was appreciated. Now the motto is to win by any means – right or wrong. Gone are the days when during an ongoing match the fielders used to congratulates the opposing batsman on the peach for every good shot or for reaching any milestone. The batting side also in turn used to appreciate every piece of brilliant bowling and good fielding. Now a good shot by a batsman is often greeted by jeers or four letter words by the fielding side. Besides, the fielding side often led by wicket-keeper constantly irritates the batsman at the strikers end by various means which range from verbal abuses to pelting pebbles etc. from behind the wicket. In the current series also Indian tail-enders Zaheer Khan was upset and furious too when while batting in the second test jelly beans were thrown on the pitch from behind the batsman by the English fielders. Jelly beans are small sweets consumed to boost energy. The intention of the English fielders clearly was to distract Zaheer by irritating him. So long such pranks are played for good humor, they should not be taken very seriously. But international cricket is serious business. The players should also remember that. In the present case Zaheer was so angry that he had at first verbal exchange with the English fielders and then he even charged at them, brandishing his bat at Kevin Peterson. Showing such fits of anger on cricket field is detestable indeed. The match referee is earned with various rules to take appropriate action against the erring players and if he takes action against players like Zhaeer and Sreesanth that will not be good for Indian cricket. So, it is high time captain Rahul Dravid and they team management sit together along with these players and tell them that their tantrums will only bring disrepute to their country, besides putting there careers and team’s future in jeopardy. They should be told in clear terms that they must show aggressiveness with their game and no other nonsense will henceforth be tolerated. The same advice applies to the opposing team too.

Author: Subhash Dey
copyright: openarticlesubmission.com

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