why only shahid afridi...?

shared by straight point on Monday, February 01, 2010

sorry for being late on the issue...

those who are wondering that even after playing so many years at international level... knowing that eyes of 26 cameras are following and dissecting your every move on cricket field... still shahid afridi had the audacity to do what he did... ?

they are missing this simple point... idiocy knows no reasoning...

but one more thing which seems to have escaped many minds and certainly icc's recruited match referee... why only shahid afridi was punished for ball tampering...?

as far as the video of the incident goes... it's clearly visible that first asif and later rana knew exactly what was going on and still there was nothing to suggest that they even tried to stop afridi from doing what he did... in fact rana was even seen smiling wickedly when he saw afridi biting the ball... which means both asif and rana were willing and consenting party to the crime... and they deserved to be punished like afridi... if not equally...

to me... icc missed the opportunity to not only stamp its authority but sending clear message in no uncertain terms that there will be zero tolerance towards such offenses and they will come down heavily not only on the player who is directly involved but even on those who are willingly party...

update: 4th feb, 2010...
i have found out that there has been a precedent of team mates getting punished for ball tampering... in year 2000 waqar younis when he became the first player to be suspended for ball tampering... his team mates also got punished...

Television replays clearly caught the Pakistani fast bowler playing with the ball. While the commentators dismissed the incident when it happened, Match Referee John Reid took it very seriously and, after a long meeting, he passed out the sentence. Also fined 30 per cent of his fees was Azhar Mahmmod, who abetted the act. Pakistani skipper Moin Khan was "severely reprimanded" for allowing it to happen.

so what i was suggesting has a precedent and wonder why this could not have been implemented in this case...

31 comments:

Ankit Poddar said...

sp,

i think if icc was to go ahead and stamp its authority by punishing rana and asif, it would have ended up losing face at the appeal... you know how these things work, bcci has used these to their advantage after all!

btw, loved the header!

Homer said...

SP,

Per ICC rules, no acgion can be taken on anyone else but Afridi.

And per ICC rules, no action can be taken against Afridi for calling all teams cheats.

Go figure..

Cheers,

straight point said...

ankit... tho unfortunately true... i am not sure whether decision should be taken keeping an appeal thing in mind... :)

straight point said...

yes home... icc cannot do anything about it...

the whole ruling procedure is farce... where even provocator gets scott free...

Late Inswing said...

SP, what you say makes perfect sense. The provocateur should pay as well. However, the ICC/Match Refree system is nothing if not a Kangaroo court. Nothing practical will ever come out of it.

Nathan said...

I love that Rana and Asif knew what he did, yet kept on bowling as if nothing was wrong. Very classy.

Boom Boom Afridi ... well, we all knew he was a few beers short of a six-pack...

Anil Singh said...

They are over smart SP. Now paying the price.

Trideep said...

Valid point SP.. I am not too sure about the rules here.. but I really think that even Rana & Asif should have been punished..

Unknown said...

If ICC wants to show a zero tolerance policy, they need to first punish Stuart Broad for his 'Step on the Ball' incident. That wasn't very intelligent either (given the fact that Hansie Cronje was once accused of ball tampering for the same act).

straight point said...

Late Inswing...

the game is changing very fast... its not a gentleman's game anymore... and icc's laws are dated... they will have to do something about it to keep the credibility of game intact...

straight point said...

hahaha nathan... indeed a beer short...

straight point said...

AB... saying them over-smart almost sounding as if we are praising them... :)

straight point said...

thanks trideep... if they will not follow natural route of justice... all this ruling system will become butt of all jokes...

straight point said...

SJ... its not that they can not make a fresh start... they will have to take the lead at some point or another otherwise as i said earlier not only icc but game will also lose its credibility...

then it will become like a reality show where we all know everything is done for a trp...

Trideep said...

hey SP.. sorry to bother again... but i have changed my link again!!

http://www.crickosphere.com/

this is final... and i guess this time u wont have problems with the blogroll..!

Wasim said...

SP

How many Indian players were banned when Sachin tampered the ball? And how many recieved the ban when Dravid tampered the ball?
I can quote you examples from other countries too but lets not stray from the topic.


The bowlers were doing a fine job without tampering the ball up till 43rd over, when he bit the ball for the first time only a few balls were left in Asif's last over so obviously he would not have benefitted from any altered condition of the ball.

The subsequent two overs were bowled by Malik and Rao both bowlers have never reversed the ball regardless of the condition.
In the third over when Rana came Afridi again bit the ball and did it openly.

He knew the consequences either did it to win the match or to insult his bowlers who had failed to reverse the ball through out the tour or to get banned.

But he didn't tried to hide it like those who pasted on the ball a lolly pop or mint or subtely pressed on the ball with their spikes.

Now don't tell me that those guys did it just for the heck of it and never told their bowlers what they have done, because that would have defeated the whole purpose of their illegal act.

He is not wrong when he says that other teams also do it, I can quote you examples from almost all the countries where people got caught it's a separate issue if they got punished or not.

What he did was wrong and immoral and he should get punished severely.

But to twist the whole story and implicate other players in it is wrong, he did it openly and tried to win a game by cheating and openly admitted it, he knew he will get caught but if Pakistan had won they would have won.

I don't think that the result of the match could have been changed in Australia'S favor under the law.

But if Pakistan had won, it would have been a total disgrace and such a victory would have been more humiliating than any loss and that's the point which he missed.

But then again all those who win matches with the help of shady umpiring and all those who have done tampering in a subtle way were no angels either they aslo did it to win the match by hook or crook it's just that they don't admit it.

Cheers

Wasim said...

SP

How many Indian players were banned when Sachin tampered the ball? And how many recieved the ban when Dravid tampered the ball?
I can quote you examples from other countries too but lets not stray from the topic.


The bowlers were doing a fine job without tampering the ball up till 43rd over, when he bit the ball for the first time only a few balls were left in Asif's last over so obviously he would not have benefitted from any altered condition of the ball.

The subsequent two overs were bowled by Malik and Rao both bowlers have never reversed the ball regardless of the condition.
In the third over when Rana came Afridi again bit the ball and did it openly.

He knew the consequences either did it to win the match or to insult his bowlers who had failed to reverse the ball through out the tour or to get banned.

But he didn't tried to hide it like those who pasted on the ball a lolly pop or mint or subtely pressed on the ball with their spikes.

Now don't tell me that those guys did it just for the heck of it and never told their bowlers what they have done, because that would have defeated the whole purpose of their illegal act.

He is not wrong when he says that other teams also do it, I can quote you examples from almost all the countries where people got caught it's a separate issue if they got punished or not.

What he did was wrong and immoral and he should get punished severely.

But to twist the whole story and implicate other players in it is wrong, he did it openly and tried to win a game by cheating and openly admitted it, he knew he will get caught but if Pakistan had won they would have won.

I don't think that the result of the match could have been changed in Australia'S favor under the law.

But if Pakistan had won, it would have been a total disgrace and such a victory would have been more humiliating than any loss and that's the point which he missed.

But then again all those who win matches with the help of shady umpiring and all those who have done tampering in a subtle way were no angels either they aslo did it to win the match by hook or crook it's just that they don't admit it.

Cheers

Ankit Poddar said...

Wasim,

the point you are missing here, and same as how afridi missed it, was in spite of the fact that others do it, does not make afridi any less of a prick and culprit in this act.

and how does it matter if he did it openly or not. while you make that read as "afridi knew he was wrong, and so did not hide it".. i read that as "afridi cares two hoots about the laws, and he is not scared of openly challenging them"

Ankit Poddar said...

SP,

i dont think all padded up is a part of your blogroll, please verify and include us if we are not there..

url: www.all-padded-up.blogspot.com

straight point said...

wasim as you have admitted he did is so openly and audaciously so why he did it is irrelevant...

my point of view is...

like in sachin's case, dravid or recently broad's when he spiked the ball... that was a impromptu thing and the team mates could not have done anything about it...

whilst in the case of afridi he was seen chewing the ball no once but twice and even in that he kept of chewing the ball in full view of asif, rana and later for all of us to see... and yet they just did not do anything to stop afridi... mind you i am not saying that they would have gone on to umpires to report afridi... but at least they should have done something to stop him from embarrassing pakistan further... as it would be naive to think that dozens of camera wont pick it...

so i feel they were as party as afidi for the embarrassment this incident has caused to pakistan cricket...

i read ur article on afridi at cricket files and must say i found it very interesting read...

straight point said...

thanks for notifying me ankit... i have corrected the mistake...

my bad... :)

Ankit Poddar said...

thanks sp

straight point said...

reverse... on contrary i find him very media savvy... he knows what he wants and what to say... he knows the pulse of fans... and knows how to manipulate it...

straight point said...

tri its still going to your old url... (as you can see on blog roll)

i know its strange but i there has t be some reason for it...

Wasim said...

Ankit

You got it completely wrong I am not defending Afridi here, if you have any doubts go read my blog.

I only differ here on two points, to implicate other players and portraying it a bigger crime than what some other players did it in the past.

First of all both bowlers had their heads down I did't see any wicked smile, secondly did any other bowler from any other team involved in such crime got punished alongwith the main culprit? Obviously nobody tampers the ball just for the heck of it, the bowlers especially know about it and the law only punishes the person caught in the act so implicating other players makes no sense, whenever a team commits ball tampering always more than one player is involved.
In this case the matter was solely in Afridi's hands what was going on in his mind he has already told whether it is true or not we can only speculate about it.

Two persons commit a murder, one pleads guilty and the other tries to claim innocence and lies through out the hearing under oath despite compelling evidence, who will get lessor punishment?

straight point said...

wasim... when for slow overrates team and captain can be punished then why not for this crime...?

and mind you if this gets implied then it will be evenly applicable for all teams and not only for pakistan...

i am suggesting it as a measure to effectively curbing the menace and not for a specific team... :)

Anil Singh said...

@wasim

i too think, the bowlers who are smiling or appearing to be the party to Afridi's conduct; should also be penalized,for the following reasons:
1) Ball is the primary property of a bowler as, it's the bowlers, who benefit from the physical condition of the ball.

2) even if someone in the team, shines the ball on one side,or tampers it, as in this case and earlier ones' involving almost all teams; he does so for the bowler or on bowler's behalf.

If a proper rule , as the post suggest, becomes this time; this will be good for cricket in general.

Vikas Yadav said...

When this nonsense in Cricket will stop!!!.

straight point said...

vikas... when the effective laws will be made and applied uniformly and consistently...

Soulberry said...

Point

straight point said...

thanks sb!

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BCC!straight point (sp) is restless... relentless... but a fun loving guy... likes to live life to fullest... trying to discover himself through cricket... welcome to this little world of his...

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