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| Edited By: Jayadev Calamur |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Sep 30, 2017, 02:40 PM IST
On March 6, former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy said he is losing respect for India captain Virat Kohli for his constant sledging during the second Test in Bengaluru.
"The pressure is starting to tell on (Kohli). I'm losing respect for him. He's got to be a lot more respectful of his opponents. The stuff he did with Steve Smith was unacceptable,” Healy said.
Now, while Healy is entitled to his opinion, as a cricketing pundit, one needs to consider the hypocrisy behind this statement. Healy, if you remember, was the one to sledge former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga twice. On both occasions, Healey fat shamed Ranatunga. On the first occasion, a ODI between Australia and Sri Lanka, Ranatunga called for a runner to which Healy allegedly said, “You don't get a runner for being an overweight, fat c***”.
The other incident was when the Australians were trying to get Ranatunga out and Healy suggested that they throw a Mars Bar on a good length.
The Australians have always used sledging as a tool, saying it was mental disintegration. They have always hated losing and feel that a good sport is a loser. Take the incident of Javagal Srinath and Ricky Ponting in 1999. Srinath bowled a bouncer, which struck Ponting on the head. When the fast bowler went to apologise, Ponding said ‘go and fu**ing bowl.’
The Australians and the English players are notorious for sledging. And while there is nothing wrong with on-field banter – or as the Australians call it ‘gamesmanship’ – sometimes it has gone personal.
In his autobiography Marshall Arts, former cricket great the late Malcolm Marshall recalled an incident where the West Indies were playing Australia in a home series. The Australians were doing badly, barring one player – their captain Allan Border. According to Marshall, during the course of the match, his teammate, fast bowler Joel Garner bowled a bouncer, which missed Border’s face to which Border lost it and called Garner a ‘black f****’.
Another famous incident is the 1976 series between England and West Indies when the England captain, the late Tony Greig, said he would make the West Indies ‘grovel’. Naturally, the West Indies players, led by Clive Lloyd, didn’t take too well to this and ensured that the West Indies won the series 3-0. In 1984 and 1985 when England lost 5-0 to the West Indies – first at home and then in the Caribbean – they blamed the fast bowlers for bowling too many bouncers, forgetting that they were the guys to formulate leg theory, famously known as Bodyline.
Of course, teams such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies have been guilty of sledging, but here, the tides turn. When Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds a monkey, all hell broke loose because Symonds, who has Aboriginal blood, accused Singh of racism. Singh claims he said ‘teri maa ki’, which was in reference to Symond’s mother, so in all honesty, I don’t know which is worse, but when you compare it to other sledges in modern cricket, it’s not one of the worst. But then again, because it was a non-white player, it was taken more seriously.
Let’s look at nastier sledges in modern cricket. Remember in 2001 when Michael Slater walked up to Rahul Dravid and yelled at him after taking a catch? Sure, Slater was dropped for the second Test of the infamous 2001 series, but nobody made a big deal out of it. Even the case of Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan serves as an example of how Caucasian cricketers have managed to get away for misbehaviour on the field. McGrath says he was provoked and regrets the incident, but during the heat of the game, doesn’t everyone have the right to indulge in a little gamesmanship?
The fact is simple: sledging is a wonderful part of the game. It converts gentlemen into fighters and it adds much-needed excitement to a sport that we love. But if Ian Healy feels that sledging is only a right of the Caucasians on nations that they once colonised, then they will be greatly disappointed because in the 21st century, nobody takes crap from anyone.
