Monday, April 21, 2008

Rahul's Statesmanly and Magnaminous Gesture

It is no surprise that no-one noticed this gesture - tiny, subtle and easily glossed over, but at the same time magnaminous and one that has prevented potentially cataclysmic effects in the cricketing world. As usual it is the gentleman at the fore of it all. As usual, simply because he chose to do it with so little fuss, he will never get credit for it. As usual, he did it in this manner because it was the right way to do - even though it was not going to help him get the limelight.

When Harbhajan got him caught and bowled, there was sufficient reason to question the catch and Dravid did for a moment. One could see him shake his head and actually look at the square leg umpire before he asked Bhajji and took Bhajj's word for it. Whether or not it was a clean catch is another question. I'm sure Bhajji was in his mind, completely honest he had caught it. But I'm also sure if it had gone to the third umpire, Rahul would have got the benefit of the doubt.

But I'm sure after that initial instinctive reaction Rahul immediately looked at the bigger picture. What repercussions would there have been all over the World especially in Australia if the picture was painted that Indian players themselves did not trust Harbhajan's word ? It would have been Christmas in Australia, it would have damaged Harbhajan's international career and had at least some medium term effects on the morale of Team India.

Kudos to the great man for his statesmanship and big-heartedness once again. Salute !

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