Are you kidding me?
In one of the most bizarre cricketing instances the world has ever seen,England's Ian Bell was allowed to resume his innings after tea on Sunday in the second Test against India at Trent Bridge after India decided to withdraw a successful appeal for a run out on the second day of the match.
In between, the two batsmen thought it is a boundary and by the time the ball came back, Bell left his crease and was jogging carelessly, thinking it's end of the session but Abhinav Mukund took the bails off and appealed. Confusion prevailed when the umpires upheld the appeal and Bell was declared out.
The English crowd, apparently furious at the ‘tactics’ of the Indians jeered at them. The jeering, it seems, bothered Dhoni to the extent that he asked Ian Bell to come back to the field, much to the amusement of the ones for whom the dismissal was valid.
It is disappointing to note that just because of the pressure from the crowds the Indians meekly awarded a second life to Ian, who in his own words admitted to being naïve for such an error.
There is a strong doubt if the decision was taken by the entire team or the captain alone who managed to garner appreciation for his gift at the expense of the team efforts. Surprisingly, so far there has been no talk about the notorious way in which the England fans misbehaved about the whole issue and yet there is ample talk about the civilized and the sporting ways in which the matches are held and played. One dreads to think about the consequences of similar actions in India.
By gifting the wicket, India’s arguably most successful Captain may have garnered praise from a section of audience, but in the eyes of the loyal Indian fan, he may well, be the reason behind India’s second encroaching defeat which is evident at the Tent Bridge.
Although Bell failed to make any considerable impact despite the lifeline, the body language of Indian players seemed to echo a loss of confidence and spirit, perhaps afraid to question the popularity of the Indian Messiah who takes ‘strong’ decisions at his own will.
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