Cricket SKams: Michael Clarke claiming Sourav Ganguly's catch

Cricket is a gentleman’s game and should be played in that fashion. However, at times, sportsmanship is left outside the field of play. One such instance was when India locked horns with Australia during the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2008.

The Kangaroos, courtesy a spectacular innings of 162 by Andrew Symonds, piled on 463 runs in their first innings. India came back strongly and registered 532, aided by tons from Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S Laxman.

Despite trailing by 69 runs, Ricky Ponting’s men weren’t ready to throw in the towel as they racked up a mammoth score of 401 runs in their second innings, setting India a target of 333. India got themselves off to a jittery start as they lost three wickets for just 54.

With the side in a spot of bother, Sourav Ganguly joined Rahul Dravid at the crease. After losing early wickets, India were in dire requisite of a healthy partnership.

Brett Lee and Stuart Clark were bowling exceptionally well to keep the Indian batsmen guessing. However, Ganguly fought fire with fire and smashed the Aussie bowlers to all parts of the ground. He was particularly severe on Brad Hogg and Andrew Symonds, creaming nine boundaries in his knock of 51 from 56 balls.

Just when India were beginning to claw their way back into the contest, Symonds struck a couple of body blows, dismissing both Dravid and Yuvraj Singh in the 34th over. With five wickets down, India were in dire straits and still required 218 runs to get over the line.

The controversy

Things turned worse for India as the Prince of Kolkata perished in the 40th over. However, his dismissal occurred in quite a controversial manner. Lee dished out a back of a length delivery that pitched a tad outside the off-stump.

Ganguly tentatively pushed at the ball, resulting in a thick outside edge. The ball flew straight into the hands of Michael Clarke, stationed at second slip. Clarke claimed the catch and started celebrating immediately after he took it.

Replays clearly showed that the ball made contact with the ground before going into Clarke’s hands. However, there was no Decision Review System (DRS) in place for the series. Mark Benson, the on-field umpire, therefore, decided to trust the fielding captain i.e. Ricky Ponting’s decision instead of referring it to the third umpire.

The Aussie skipper raised his finger indicating that Clarke’s catch was clean as a whistle. Benson subsequently declared Ganguly out, but the southpaw stood his ground as he was unsure whether the catch was legitimate or not.

After a while, to the dismay of the Indian cricket team, an agitated and disappointed Ganguly left the field.

Ganguly was the sixth Indian wicket to fall, and his side folded for 210.

However, instead of the contest between bat and ball, the match made headlines because of the controversy it sparked. Ganguly slammed the Australia captain saying that it was the role of the umpire to give the batsman out and not Ponting’s.

At the conclusion of the game, Anil Kumble mentioned that there was only one team that played according to the spirit of the game. Even Sunil Gavaskar, on commentary, criticised Benson for not consulting the third-umpire.

However, this wasn’t the only controversy that surrounded the Test match. Harbhajan Singh was accused of hurling racial abuses at Andrew Symonds. The off-spinner was handed a three-match ban as a result of which the Indian team vowed to boycott the tour.

While India couldn’t avoid a series defeat after their initial losses in Melbourne and Sydney, they came back strongly to pin Australia down by 72 runs at Perth, which is still considered as one of India’s most historic wins in Australia.

At times, controversies tend to overshadow the on-field action, something that is not healthy for the sport.