The Ian Bell Run Out: Spinning a Spectacle

Had India not run-out Ian Bell in the first place, only then it could be argued that India and their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had upheld the spirit of the game. As things stand, they did run him out, which they were entitled to within the laws of the game, and then had a change of heart. Rahul Dravid termed it as the ‘right thing to do’. Implying that running him out, in the first place, was the wrong thing to do.

To credit India with upholding the spirit of the game is thus wrong and misplaced. Only a naive eagerness to find some good in a team that has let themselves and their supporters down by showing the most scant regard for the trophy they are playing for, by turning up under prepared and unfit.

To compliment and thank England for their role in the episode, the way the ICC did yesterday is infuriating and exasperating, as well. I can’t digest the news that during the tea interval captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower met Mahendra Singh Dhoni and asked him to reconsider the appeal. Why would anyone defend a grand display of sheer ignorance of the law by one of their players? Or are the English so desperate that they will even beg for a few wickets to be reversed.

You know an action is in the ‘Spirit of the game’ when you see one. I saw this and all I saw was ignorance, indecisiveness and and finally an attempt to generate some goodwill.

When Courtney Walsh did not run out Saleem Jaffer, when the latter was backing up too far down the pitch, with the 1987 World Cup finals berth on the line…that was in the spirit of the game. You saw it and there was a unanimous, instinctive and spontaneous acknowledgement and appreciation of what Walsh had done.

What happened yesterday at Trent Bridge was just a spectacle. Let’s not dig for deeper narratives. Let’s not fall for misleading advertisements that Test cricket is so eager to offer these days.