arvindp
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The Indian cricket team on Sunday showed why it is important to be No. 1 not just in ranking, but also in upholding the spirit of the game as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni recalled England batsman Ian Bell after he had been adjudged run-out at the stroke of tea on day three of the second Test here.
The bizarre incident happened in the last over of the second session when Eoin Morgan flicked one off Ishant Sharma towards deep square leg, where his pace colleague Praveen Kumar made a good save and threw the ball back to keeper Dhoni.
In between, the two batsmen - who had run three runs - thought it is a boundary and by the time the ball came back, Bell had left his crease and was jogging carelessly, thinking it was the end of the session but Dhoni took the bails off and appealed. Confusion prevailed when the umpires upheld the appeal and Bell was declared out.
The English crowd was left astonished as Bell was batting well at 137, steering the hosts to a strong position.
The hugely disappointed crowd booed off the Indian players and welcomed them for the third session with chants of 'cheat..cheat'. But when they saw Bell coming back to the field, the capacity crowd of 17,000 was won over and what followed was thunderous applause.
During the break, Dhoni took a precedent-setting decision as they were well within their rights to claim the wicket but preferred to recall the batsman. With one act of good sportmanship, Dhoni ensured that the run-out will not be blown into a full-fledged controversy and that there would be no lingering bitterness.
Explaining what transpired during the 20-minute tea break, former England player-turned commentator David Llyod said while commentating that, "England skipper Andrew Strauss knocked the Indian dressing room if they were willing to withdraw the appeal? Dhoni then consulted his teammates and agreed to withdraw the run out appeal."
Lloyd also quoted Rahul Dravid as saying that despite the appeal being within the laws of the game, "it was not in the spirit".
"One of the things we talked about was what if it had happened to us – we would have been disappointed if the appeal had not been withdrawn. There was something that didn't feel right about it. We accepted he wasn't attempting a run and it [the decision to reinstate Bell] was unanimous," Dravid said.
After the game, Ian Bell too admitted that his naivety caused the run-out incident.
"It was probably a bit naive on my part but I thought everything was just meandering towards walking off for tea and it wasn't until I got to the boundary rope we realised something had changed," said Bell.
"If you are going right down to exactly how the rule stands then I'm out. But it was a completely honest mistake by me to assume the ball was dead so I think the end result was probably the right one for the spirit of the game and for how we want to play this series. I think they (India) would probably admit that.
"The way they handled the situation was fantastic. But I have learned a big lesson because it was wrong of me to assume that because an umpire starts walking towards the bowler he has called 'over'."
Other commentators, who are former cricketers, showered plaudits on the Indian side for the gesture.
"It's always India who is expected to do the sporting thing," remarked former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar.
"That's real class from Dhoni to do what it is. it's real classy by India," said Lloyd.
Ravi Shastri was critical of the crowd reaction.
"MS Dhoni must have done something special. He has withdrawn the appeal. We are playing within the rules. Where has the spirit of cricket gone," he said.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said umpires can't reverse the decision on their own and it was only Dhoni whose decision mattered.
"It is upto Dhoni (whether to withdraw his appeal or not). The umpires need not go back to Dhoni, need not go back to Strauss," Ganguly said.
Bell was finally out after adding 22 more runs to his total when Yuvraj Singh had him caught in the slip region by VVS Laxman.
SOURCE
The bizarre incident happened in the last over of the second session when Eoin Morgan flicked one off Ishant Sharma towards deep square leg, where his pace colleague Praveen Kumar made a good save and threw the ball back to keeper Dhoni.
In between, the two batsmen - who had run three runs - thought it is a boundary and by the time the ball came back, Bell had left his crease and was jogging carelessly, thinking it was the end of the session but Dhoni took the bails off and appealed. Confusion prevailed when the umpires upheld the appeal and Bell was declared out.
The English crowd was left astonished as Bell was batting well at 137, steering the hosts to a strong position.
The hugely disappointed crowd booed off the Indian players and welcomed them for the third session with chants of 'cheat..cheat'. But when they saw Bell coming back to the field, the capacity crowd of 17,000 was won over and what followed was thunderous applause.
During the break, Dhoni took a precedent-setting decision as they were well within their rights to claim the wicket but preferred to recall the batsman. With one act of good sportmanship, Dhoni ensured that the run-out will not be blown into a full-fledged controversy and that there would be no lingering bitterness.
Explaining what transpired during the 20-minute tea break, former England player-turned commentator David Llyod said while commentating that, "England skipper Andrew Strauss knocked the Indian dressing room if they were willing to withdraw the appeal? Dhoni then consulted his teammates and agreed to withdraw the run out appeal."
Lloyd also quoted Rahul Dravid as saying that despite the appeal being within the laws of the game, "it was not in the spirit".
"One of the things we talked about was what if it had happened to us – we would have been disappointed if the appeal had not been withdrawn. There was something that didn't feel right about it. We accepted he wasn't attempting a run and it [the decision to reinstate Bell] was unanimous," Dravid said.
After the game, Ian Bell too admitted that his naivety caused the run-out incident.
"It was probably a bit naive on my part but I thought everything was just meandering towards walking off for tea and it wasn't until I got to the boundary rope we realised something had changed," said Bell.
"If you are going right down to exactly how the rule stands then I'm out. But it was a completely honest mistake by me to assume the ball was dead so I think the end result was probably the right one for the spirit of the game and for how we want to play this series. I think they (India) would probably admit that.
"The way they handled the situation was fantastic. But I have learned a big lesson because it was wrong of me to assume that because an umpire starts walking towards the bowler he has called 'over'."
Other commentators, who are former cricketers, showered plaudits on the Indian side for the gesture.
"It's always India who is expected to do the sporting thing," remarked former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar.
"That's real class from Dhoni to do what it is. it's real classy by India," said Lloyd.
Ravi Shastri was critical of the crowd reaction.
"MS Dhoni must have done something special. He has withdrawn the appeal. We are playing within the rules. Where has the spirit of cricket gone," he said.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said umpires can't reverse the decision on their own and it was only Dhoni whose decision mattered.
"It is upto Dhoni (whether to withdraw his appeal or not). The umpires need not go back to Dhoni, need not go back to Strauss," Ganguly said.
Bell was finally out after adding 22 more runs to his total when Yuvraj Singh had him caught in the slip region by VVS Laxman.
SOURCE
