Sydney Test

The Sydney test will be etched in my memory for a long time, not for good reasons though.Right from the point when Symonds was given not out on thirty ,the Indians were at the receiving end of some poor umpiring decisions.I strongly feel the time has come for Steve Bucknor to hang up his boots and bid adieu to international cricket.Yes,not doubt he has been a great umpire but there is a point in every sportsman's career when he/she starts going downhill,and to me Bucknor is right now at that point...And added to the fact that historically,the Indians have been at the receiving end of some of his most controversial decisions...

How on earth was Symonds given not out,i still cant understand...My grandfather could very well have heard the sound (of bat hitting the ball)if he was a spectator,given that there was a huge gap between bat and body.......Ricky Ponting given out lbw of a clear inside edge...Ok,the umpires i understand are also humans like us,and are prone to errors but what puzzles me the most is the third umpire ruling Symonds not out when there was clear daylight between foot and ground suggesting he wasn back in his crease when the bails were whipped off....Yes,we all say technology should be brought in as much as possible but even with such sophisticated technology in place,if right decisions are not made,we have only ourselves to blame.Added to the fact that on the last day of the test match,Dravid was adjudged out even when he clearly had not nicked the ball.And Ganguly too was another victim of a poor decision.

Talks of racial abuse continued and the conduct of some of the players left a lot to be desired.Between all these there were centuries from Laxman,Hayden,Sachin and Hussey.....Laxman came good once again against the Aussies and Sachin showed that he still has a lot to offer to International Cricket....Hussey and Hayden batted very sensibly on the 4th day when the match was delicately poised and made sure that their team would not lose the match.....also Harbhajan and Hogg did some justice to their batting talents with well composed half centuries....... BrettLee was superb.... RP Singh too bowled with a lot of fire... and Kumble showed us the kind of ''never say die attitude''that has been his trade mark over all these years by playing a captain's knock on the last day...

Unfortunately,the umpiring decisions cost us the match dearly...Having said that some of our batsmen,notably Dravid ,i felt batted very much with a defensive mindset....thereby allowing the Aussies to pile up the pressure and with a line up that includes the likes of Lee,Johnson,Hogg and Clark,they were asking for trouble....

The spirit of sportsmanship suffered the most.The Australians take pride in saying that they play the game"hard and fair"...I would rather not include the 2nd adjective there.