Kumble is no angel, but.....

Kumble is a living legend, who spun a web around batsmen the worldover without spinning too much.

Still, few of Kumble’s victims were said to be courtesy Indian umpires.

And, few of his victims came thanks to vociferous appeals.

So one has to take it with pinch of salt when he says that ‘’Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game.’’

Now, Kumble may not have the moral authority to say so, as few experts will argue, but they certainly can’t challenge his strong sense of history.

As reported in a website, the Indian captain was merely echoing the sentiments of Australia Captain Bill Woodfull when he used somewhat similar words during the 1932 bodyline series.

Now, in that 1932 series just the spirit of the game was broken. Laws were wrongly used, but not broken, to destroy the Aussie lineup.

But 75 years later, in those five fateful days at Sydney, both the spirit and the laws were crushed by 13 visible and few invisible men. On the field, Team India suffered, and off the field, Harbhajan and millions of Indians.

That is the reason that even a day after the event, when passions should have died down on a working day (Monday), a survey conducted by NDTV reported that over 90 per cent Indians were still in favour of calling off the tour (it was 94 some time back).

That (calling off) will not happen with millions at stake (not to speak of future stakes). Some compromise will surely be worked out. Every thing will be forgotten, just as Ponting’s Podium Push to BCCI President during the Champions Trophy’s closing ceremony in 2006.

But as of now, Kumble does have the right to say that only one team was playing in the spirit of the game. It was SO BLATANT after all. Even the Australians were shamed by their team’s conduct with/or without the collusion with umpires. It is so clear in the story below.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtvcricket/cricketstory.aspx?id=SPOEN20080037918