The Ian Bell Run-Out Saga: Bell, Too Naive or Too Smart?

Well, obviously we are here to talk about the “Bell” incident. So much has been said and written on the issue, I’m barely left with anything new to say. I didn’t get a chance to see the match LIVE and only read and saw YouTube video of the incident. And what I saw, instantly rang a bell in my head; Bell: Too Naive or Too Smart?

Haroon Lorgat, ICC Chief, was quick to congratulate The Indian Team Management/ BCCI, The English Team Management/ECB, and The Match Officials for saving the series from getting sour and upholding the “spirit” of the game. Somehow, I fail to comprehend that what English Team or ECB has to do with the so-called upholding of the spirit of the game? They had nothing to lose. Whatever credit/Discredit(in my opinion) is there, it goes to Dhoni and Co.

Whose decision was it anyways?: A day after the incident, a ‘Leaked’ report from the dressing room claimed that it was the apparent GOD of Cricket Sachin’s generosity that helped resurrect Bell. Somehow I again fail to comprehend this fact when Rahul Dravid clearly stated in his post match interview that Dhoni led the discussion and that the decision was unanimous. May be Sachin is being singled out because they know that fans back home are angry for Dhoni’s stupid gesture. Lets tell them, Sachin wanted it. Immediately the reaction would turn from, “Dhoni is such an idiot, What was the need to bring Bell back when he was legally out?” to “Oh.. ok, ok.. God wanted it. Then its fine. God is never wrong. He upheld the ‘Spirit’ of the Game. He is Great.” Whether it was Sachin, Dhoni, Rahul or the whole team, to me the decision does sound stupid.

Who actually hurt the ‘Spirit’ of the Game?: This is one thing I again fail to comprehend. Was it actually The Indian Team that hurt the spirit of the game by appealing for the run-out? Or was it Bell who hurt the spirit of the game by Calling it 4 by himself, by calling it ‘over’ by himself, by calling it tea by himself? From where I see it, it seems utter disregard of the game and of the Umpire- The highest and utmost respectable person on the field of play because from what I know, its 4 only when umpire signals it, its ‘Over’ only when umpire calls it, and its ‘Tea’ only when umpire dislodges the bales and calls, ‘Gentlemen, its Tea’. Bell, as Nasser Hussain puts it, took upon the job of Umpire. That hurt the spirit of the game. The spirit of the game was hurt when the mockery was made of the laws of cricket. Mike Atherton sums it up very well. The rule clearly states that the batsman can be recalled only if he hasn’t gone out of the ground. Here he went off, had tea and probably sandwiches according to Swann’s tweet and came back.

Why exactly did Dhoni re-instate Bell?: To me there seems to be only 2 reasons.1. Indians are too softies.2. Indians had already lost the game in their head.I think its a bit of both. A Ricky Ponting or Steve Waugh led World Conquering team would never have taken the decision Dhoni took. Because their hunger to win was far greater than the hunger to show their goodness. Indians are so soft by heart, they probably felt bad for bell, they probably felt intimidated by the boos and the jeers of the crowd. And Dhoni by then had probably lost the match already in his head, and so he thought, ‘ok, I cant win the match, atleast let me win some goodwill’.. And boy didn’t he do a great job!! The talks are all about the Spirit of the game and nobody is talking about England crushing India the way even India couldn’t crush Bangladesh.Now in the context of the match, the decision looks insignificant. You take out Bell’s 150 runs and India would still lose by 150+ margin. But Bell added 22 runs to his score from that point and 50 odd runs to England’s score in Morgan’s Partnership. Who was to blame had India lost the match by 50 runs?? Nobody will have an answer. May be the ‘Spirit’ of the Game can come down from the heavens and answer it.

With whom lies the onus of upholding the ‘spirit’ of the game?: There has been so much shower of praise for upholding the spirit of the game, for saving the series from getting sour and ill-tempered. I think its creating a false sense of satisfaction in general public’s mind, a false aura to hide Indian Team’s stupidity. If a legal run-out makes the series sour, then the England players should introspect themselves. The same team, along with a former big-mouth player accused Laxman’s integrity just a day before with Broad even checking his bat and I fail to understand how they managed to accumulate the guts to ask for MSD’s mercy a day after in the name of ‘Spirit of the game”.Suddenly the ‘spirit of the game’ caught hold of Strauss’s body, mind and soul. I take it that probably in the next match when Broad again gets Bhajji out LBW with a thick inside edge, they wouldn’t celebrate the Hat-trick, instead they would take the appeal back because thats in the spirit of the game. Isn’t it Straussy?

India have always been on the recieving end. Somehow the onus of upholding the spirit of the game always lies with the Indians. If at all, at least Bell should have been fined for showing disregard to the umpire. Indians have been fined for lesser offences like excessive appealing in the past. I remember once, in 2001, Australian Slater claimed a false catch against Dravid and when TV umpire ruled Dravid not out, he had an ugly spat with both Dravid as well as the umpire and he escaped without any punishment. May be because sledging and arrogance is expected off them. It comes to them naturally, not the Indians.

Rahul Dravid said in his post match interview, that there were immediate discussions and the feeling was not good in the dressing room. Why? Why so Soft? Its high time Indians give the world a dose of their own medicine. Let the crowd boo. Let the cricket pundits call for the ‘Spirit of the game’. India should just take care about winning. Dravid also pointed out how Laxman’s dismissal against WI, left a bitter feeling in their stomach. But did India push the Bone of ‘Spirit of game’ under WI’s throat? Did WI uphold the spirit? No. They celebrated. Then why should India give in to the stupid ‘Upholding the spirit’ demands of the opposition team?

India can’t stay on top with these stupid gestures. Take a cue from Australians. They fought for the dismissals that were not even there, and we expect to win matches by revoking the dismissals that are legal? They just wanted to win, by hook or by crook. They never gave a damn to the ‘Gaming Spirits’. If Bell was naive, let him be punished for being naive. If he is in such hurry to have his tea, let him have it!! Why re-instate him? Does India expect Strauss to return the same gesture? Will he take back his appeal if in the next match he sees in the replay that an Indian batsman has been adjudged out wrongly? Broad had no shame in celebrating his un-deserving hattrick. Why should we feel shame in celebrating a deserving legal wicket? Lets not be softies.. Lets be Tough.. Lets only think about winning, lets not feel bad about anyone because they wouldn’t feel bad about us, they wouldn’t uphold the spirit of the game when the tables turn. Whatever happened to the New-Zealand Batsman run-out when he collided with English Bowler, Ryan Sidebottom? Collingwood never took his decision back. If the series gets played in bad taste, so be it. Why back off when you are not at fault? Let the Gaming Spirits rest in heaven, and think about competitivenes and winning.

Now Coming to the main point.

Was Bell Too Naive or Too smart?

The above video on YouTube that I saw, clearly shows me that Morgan flicked the ball, Praveen dived to stop it, and by the time ball came back, Bell and Morgan had completed 3 runs, and Bell had started running for the 4th one. Morgan raised his hand to tell Bell to go back to his crease, Bell turned his head and saw that the ball was already in MSD’s gloves, so he kept walking towards Morgan. Morgan made sure that he puts his bat in the crease first in case of a run-out appeal and Mukund flicked off the bales and Indians appealed and by that time Bell was standing on the other end. But Bell was in his own world. People are appealing against him and he has no idea. He is still sleepwalking towards the pavilion.Now the ones who believe what Bell said, please raise your hands…! Even Mukund, a rookie newbie, realised that the 4 hasn’t been signaled, that the ‘Over’ hasn’t been called, that the ‘Tea’ hasn’t been declared, that the ball is not ‘Dead’. How can we buy that Bell, a seasoned player, was unaware of it?

I dare say, Bell was too Smart. The moment Morgan tried to send him back, and he turned to see that the ball is in Dhoni’s hand, he realised that he had already wandered into a zone of uncertainty. He knew that if he goes back now, he would definitely be adjudged run-out. So he thought, “lets just keep walking and pretend that i wasn’t running.” In the post match interview, he seemed so nervous and kept uttering ‘Spirit of the game’ so many times, that somehow I was made sure that it was all a master plan. He was pressing on the phrase ‘Spirit of the game’ so hard, to take the attention away from his own wrong doing. And the video at one point also clearly states that he argued with the reserve umpire at the boundary line that the onfield umpire called ‘Over’, but later accepted that he never heard him calling ‘over’ and that he was naive to do what he did. If he was really naive and he hadn’t heard ‘over’, then why’d he lie that he heard ‘Over’? His reaction should have been something like, “Oh, i am sorry, i thought its Over”, instead of saying, “He called Over”. It makes me believe that he accepted his fault only because Dhoni revoked his appeal. Had Dhoni stood firm with his decision, Bell would never have accepted his fault. He would have maintained that he heard ‘Over’ and that he was given out illegally.

Marcus Trescothick revealed in his auto-biography some secrets about how English Bowlers generated swing by applying mint to the ball. Boy, Cricketers always have some sensational reveals up their sleaves.So Folks, come few years, when Bell retires, do look out for his auto-biography, which is such a fashion nowadays and dont be surprised if, to sensationalise his book, he claims that whatever happened on that fateful day was a part of a Masterplan.Ring a “Bell”???

Edited By: Ambuj Gupta