India vs Australia 2017: Action Should Be Taken Against Steve Smith, Says Sourav Ganguly
Jan 9, 2019 at 4:10 PM
The former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has called for action against Australian skipper Steve Smith for his unethical act on the field during the fourth day of the second Test match at Bengaluru.
Steve Smith, who was hit on his pads by Umesh Yadav, was trying to take help from people sitting in the dressing room whether to take DRS, which irked Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who complain about the same to the umpire. Nigel Llong was quick to stop the Aussie skipper from doing so.
Sourav Ganguly was not amused by Smith’s act and has now stood for an action against the batsman as he said,
“Action must be taken according to rules and laws of the game. If it’s a ban it should be a ban because if the umpires themselves saw Smith infringing on DRS rules then they must report and take action. The umpires and Match referee must ensure this doesn’t happen in future.”
Further, Ganguly hit at out at the Australian players for sledging and playing against the spirit of the game. He also recalled the (in)-famous Sydney Test where umpiring gaffes resulted in Indian team losing the Test match,
“When they sledge they think it’s okay but if you sledge back they call it disrespect? I have seen Australian coaches sending their men to sit in the stands and at times instructing or giving the signal to their players what to do on the field! That’s why we started retaliating.
“Remember Sydney Test (2008), when we lost the Test due to bad umpiring by Steve Bucknor and how Australian fielders claimed wrong decisions. I was given out off a bump catch in the slips because the fielder claimed it and in those days you had to go with the word of the fielders,” Ganguly said.
The DRS row has now gained a lot of attention since Virat Kohli mentioned about the same in the post-match press conference as well. Smith has also received criticism from Michael Clarke.
We now might surely see ICC taking a note of allegations put by Indian skipper as it’s a serious breach of conduct by the Australian skipper who termed this act as an act of ‘Brain Fade’.