Yes, sledging has indeed gone too far. Why am I raising this now? It is because of an interesting development in the Duleep Trophy finals in India. Ajinkya Rahane, the West Zone captain, directed his team member, Jaisval to leave the field because of constant sledge. Whether this will create a ripple effect, it is far too early to say but I would like to appreciate what Rahane did. He is someone who has seen it all at the highest level. The fact that he directed a young and upcoming cricketer to rein himself in must have taught him an invaluable lesson.
“You have to follow rules and respect the game, your opponents and the umpires. That’s the way I have always played my cricket and I will continue to do so. There are certain things you must follow on the field, if you don’t, you get off the field. This is my mantra,” Rahane said.
Sledging is a curse. There are far too many players who hide behind the flimsy argument that they did not cross the line. This is utter nonsense. What is the line? Where is the line? Who has drawn the line? Every team without exception draws their own line. They all have their own justification. It is time this is stopped.
These are underhand tactics
I just cannot understand why the players would want to resort to such underhand behaviour on the field. Cricket is known as the game for gentlemen. It is not the case any longer. This sort of rotten behaviour has spread right down to age group cricket. Youngsters are watching their stars abuse one another for they ape that. I have seen school kids abuse each other on the field. They are barely 9 or 10 years old. How did it come to that? They see the cricket stars on TV and assume that that is how the game must be played. At an age when the kids must be learning about discipline, they are taught abuse by the players. The society becomes rotten because of such behaviour.
The great West Indian sides never resorted to such language because they had the greatest bowling attack and never had to indulge in such cheap tactics. Players who are involved in such acts belong to those teams that they know is not capable enough to win the game on merit.
The man responsible for abusive behaviour
Steve Waugh was the one who coined the term “mental disintegration”. This was the phrase he had given for plain and pure sledging. Not for nothing were the Australians called as ugly Aussies. This is not to say that other teams are saint. What the Aussies started, this was prevalent even during the days of Steve Waugh, percolated at all levels and now every country is guilty. The Indians, who were not known of such rudeness during the Gavaskar, Kapil Dev era, are now masters of sledging. The abuse and expletives that Kohli hurls at the opposition is a case in point. A few years ago, Vijay and Pujara happily talked about how they sledged the opponents. It shows that things have gone too far.
Pujara during a chat session with Rahane said, “I do make a lot of noise while playing FIFA. And these days you see I am making a lot of noise on the field. I am learning the tricks of sledging. If you need to sledge a particular batsman, you need to sledge. It helps the bowlers,” Pujara said while interactive session with Ajinkya Rahane for bcci.tv.
Gavaskar goes onto say,
“I would say the Australians have perhaps been more known for it (sledging), not that the other teams are not doing it. Maybe not Bangladesh, maybe not Sri Lanka. But even India — sadly — has resorted to personal abuse”.
Only change from what Gavaskar said some years ago is that even Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are not saints any longer. Especially Bangladesh. They abuse every other team left, right and centre. This despite their atrocious on-field behaviour. They have been granted full member status for the last 25 years and are still struggling and they have the gumption to abuse the opposition.
Tougher action is needed against sledging
Gavaskar has called for strict action against sledging. He is alright with banter.
“There is more money in other sports such as golf and tennis but, thanks to tough laws, one does not find misbehaviour or bad language there,” he said. “The old adage ‘it’s not cricket’, which applied to just about everything in life, is no longer valid – and that’s a real pity. In the modern world of commercialisation of the game and the advent of satellite television and the motto of winning at all costs, sportsmanship has gone for six.
“Now I have heard it being said that whenever there’s been needle in a match, words have been exchanged. That may be true, but what was banter in days gone by – and was enjoyed by everyone, including the recipient – today has degenerated to downright personal abuse.”
Wrapping up sledging has indeed gone too far
I do not know about other sports but cricket must be relieved of this evil. Perhaps, the authorities will not act until something really untoward happens on the field. I am not happy with banter either. It is something that will easily turn into abuse. Well done Rahane. I do have a different opinion about Rahane that batsman but as the captain of West Zone, he has hit the bull’s eye. He has clearly shown the way. It is for the rest to take it forward.
Other blogs about sledging can be read here