An outside view to consider:
I am a kiwi cricket fan with over 40 years association to the game, and personally love nothing more than watching the Oz lose, especially in their own back yard, as such over recent years I have followed with keen interest Indias performance on tours of Australia, with the boys from the sub-continent getting my full support and that of my kiwi mates.

However, by the end of the current series in Australia I must confess to being appalled at the antics of Mr Singh and the flexing of muscles by the Indian cricket authorities in regards to racial allegations, threatening to throw a tantrum and fly the team home, as well as countless other incidents which went beyond the limit of what is acceptable.

Indian cricket has done itself a great dis-service with the Singh incidents this summer and that is the tragic result of this, not some hollow victory about having a racial abuse charge dropped ( and since when is it acceptable to be insulting to some ones mother?...) all this has I am sad to say put many neutrals who fully supported India when playing in Australia, off side which is the biggest shame especially when the mastery of Tendulkar was what should have been celebrated, perhaps the greatest ever to play the game ( subjective of course ) playing some sublime innings, a true master class performance, yet as Mr Jha mentioned in his article, the tour will forever be associated with an extremely rude cricketer who perhaps felt he was above the law and his actions and those of his employers showed little to suggest otherwise

truely a sad time for cricket in the history of this glorious game, and one I hope does not indicate the begining of a terrible seperation within the game

I know this is not the right place to comment for this , but ,do you ever test driveyour site ? Most of the time when you click on any link these days,the iritating "sony cybershot" ad appears , which sometimes goes away after some attemepts , and sometimes stays (e.g. India Physio John Gloster Resigns link" for Feb 14 2007) at least while using Internet explorer browser.

Is this how the clickthrough ad revenue is generated in this site?

I agree with Sanjay Jha that we have made harbhajan a hero for mouthing obscenities (as confessed by him)... its strange that all and sundry are going over the moon regarding his acquittal and also bcci backing him up fully.
This especially that cricket is a game that all in india look upto. Sidhu was taken off-commentary when he used a four-letter word on air. Dean Jones was chastised for making the "terrorist" remark. Harbhajan has misused the opportunity given to represent the country at the highest level by mouthing foul language(ironcially with a lot of pride).
So now it is BCCI's responsibilty to reprimand harbhajan by axing him for a couple of series for singh to know the honour of playing for the country and bringing pride. As such he isnt a match-winner anyway..... Just hanging in the side on his past glory. He has even been reprimanded by the sikh community (long tresses) sometime back So he deserves a good lesson in handling himself in a dignified manner. On the field Harbhajan rarely spins the ball and thinks by his stupid aggression the ball will spin ...... By axing him, BCCI will send a good signal to all our cricketers about upholding certain discipline in the game.

I dont agree with this guy. Why does he not complaint about the ugly politics that little kid watch on TV everyday. Does that not influence thier minds. And as a parent he should be the one choosing what his little daughter watches on TV. I am sure his daughter watches ten times worst stuff on the TV. Whatever happened in Sydney Test is open and Symonds admits that he started things. Aussies have past record of sledging so why don't you socialists ask them to appologize to the world. Mr. Jha's Blog is a biased one and a foolish one.

Hi Jha,

your view on Bajji's case is exceptionally reallistic and most of the Indians are in the illusion that our players were not treated properly there in Australia and our people were 100% correct on their move....but the reality is as you said...

its really encouraging...

wow, I dont have enough bad things to say about this article. Personally, I cannot believe you have the guts to criticize Harbhajan who stood up for himself and his team and his countrymen. But its not your fault Jha Uncle, its the degraded society's fault which produces cowardly "men" like you. Tell your daughter the truth that the guy you heard it from had a fight with one of the players from the otherside and sometimes (or everytime) you gotta stand up for yourself and what you believe in. Its exactly this gutlessness that made us a slave race for about a thousand years I believe. Its exactly this difference in opinion on Harbhajan that is symbolic of different mindsets that divided the subcontinent in 1947. You talk of Gandhi and others and call Harbhajan a loser in your article. Kuch socho uncle ji, aise bekaar mein kuch mat likha karo, khair, galti sabse ho jaati hai, concentrate on cricket, thats what i would say. Take a bow Harbhajan and dont u worry about the haters and dont let morality get in your way of doing whats right!

Mr. Jha is so right about the shame on Harbajan Singh. The entire country and BCCI congratulated themselves when the charges against Harbajan Singh were dropped. But what is said is an insult to anyone, Australian or India. Besides, Harbajan has been unnecessarily shooting his mouth off each time he speaks to the Indian media and the media has been lapping it up as if what he said was "gospel". Everyone needs to wake up and realize how Harbajan has shamed India in using that abuse. If he had used some Indians with the same filthy language, he would have been soundly thrashed on the street.

Dont Shelter your Kids too much there Jha uncle. Also, cant blame Harbhajan for several reasons: oz do the same, society is like that etc. Find more interesting topics for your articles, with all due respect!

Mr. Jha,

I truly accept, apprecaite and respect the sentiments and thing that one bad thing by a celbrity person will have an huge impact on the public. But, are u trying to say that even if you are hit or abused (either physically or mentally), you should keep your mouth shut and listen to whatever the other man says. Symonds himself admits that he was the one who started it all (no one what he had said) and it was that moment, he was supposedly irritated and maybe uttered that word.

what a wonderfully written article. But thats the only thing i liked about this article. Its like a beautiful body without soul. In other words what a waste of time & effort.
I believe Mr Jha you have never played season cricket any time in your life. If it is true then i m willing to give you a benefit of doubt for writing such a naive article. Anyone, who has played cricket, will agree that at the international level cricket is played only in the mind because once you are chosen to represent your country it is clear that you posess talent or cricketing skills.
International cricket not only requires great physical effort but also high mental toughness. High concentration & focus can sometimes render you emotionless as a player. Casualties such as shaun Tait (aus) & lou vincent (nzl) are examples to name a few.
In bhajji's case it was very clear that symonds was the main culprit who provoked bhajji. In any normal circumstances, any person would retaliate if his/her self respect is hurted by some other person. so why bhajji is being portrayed as a villain just becuase he retaliated to a provocation by symonds.
And Mr Jha, finally, if you ask me one thing which is the easiest thing to do in cricket, i would say to make a comment on the game of cricket by sitting outside the ground in one's room. Take the case of Harsha Bhogale. He is a brilliant comentator but i find him pretty ordinary when he criticises a player on the cricket field. Just have a look at the criticism made by sinil gavaskar on any cricket player. having played tha game for so many years, the little master knows what it takes to be a successful player at the international level. His comments more than often than not are precise & technically immaculate. May be some one has to tell harsha bhagale to stick to only describing whats happening on the cricket field.
so Mr Jha i would suggest you to do some soul searching before commenting on the happenings in a cricket field.

Thanks!
Loki