Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was clearly frustrated that Ishant Sharma, his 19-year-old fast bowler, had 15 per cent of his match fee recently docked for a heated exchange on the field with Andrew Symonds. Yet, in an interaction with the media on Tuesday, the Indian skipper let slip more than a hint of admiration for the Australians than he may have liked. The fact was, he said, Sharma was provoked into intemperate remarks by the Australians. 8220;It8217;s an art and they are good at it,8221; he conceded. 8220;But the Indians will learn soon.8221; That is half the story. The other half of it came from Harbhajan Singh, who had his own take on Australia8217;s sustained provocation: 8220;Maybe they realise they no longer are the undisputed champions of the world. Maybe they feel the crown is slipping.8221;
You have to harbour acute distaste for human drama to not appreciate the clash of personalities on this Australian tour. By mid-week, as Harbhajan unwittingly found himself to be the abused party when Matthew Hayden called him 8220;an obnoxious little weed8221;, the narrative was clear. There is a reason the Indian and Australian boards have not been able to keep the conversation polite and soft between their cricketers. The Australians sense that the Indians are carefully learning their ways. They sense a challenge to their pre-eminence, and India have through the rivalry 8212; in match scores and in loose chatter 8212; made it obvious that Australia is for them the last frontier.
That is why it is difficult to remain angry with Hayden.
