Team India must gracefully accept the verdict by former Australian judge Gordon Lewis, the ICC judicial commissioner, in the James Anderson-Jadeja slugfest on the England tour. The verdict giving a clean chit to English pacer Anderson, who was said to have pushed and used abusive language directed at the Indian all-rounder, may seem quirky. But Indian cricket must take this in its stride and get on with the game, especially since Jadeja was also exonerated after he appealed the fine of 50 per cent of his fee by the ICC match referee David Boon.
This is not the time to dwell on the issue, which Indian cricket seems to have taken up as one involving national prestige. A captain must stand up for his squad and Dhoni did just that, pursuing the cause even without taking his cricket board initially into confidence. Dhoni’s pronouncements as well as those of England’s Alastair Cook in defence of argumentative players needlessly raised the issue to a high emotional pitch.
Cricket teams are known to play very hard on the pitch, which of course leads to confrontations among players and the language can be particularly vitriolic.
The senior judge may have seen through it all and concluded that the whole thing was a silly and pointless exercise. It’s time for Team India to switch its focus back to the cricket that is at hand.
