India’s 500^th Test: Value of Ethics

India is celebrating its 500^th Test Match win at Kanpur. Every newspaper has reported the technical supremacy of the hosts over the visitors while cautioning that the Kiwis can ‘surely fly’ and hit back in the next two Tests.

I have a special association with Green Park for a few memorable innings as a local player. Watching 5 days of absorbing cricket on TV took me back to my cricketing days. I was reminded of the gentlemen’s game that Cricket was and the gentleman’s spirit that has been long abandoned.

Cricket is a reflection of life like no other sport. It has been distinctive because of long tours and a long duration of (up to 5 days) struggle together as a team. With every generation of cricketers, the values of the society have naturally shown up in the actions of the men in whites, both on and off the field. Till the sixties, there was an unwritten norm, at least for friendly matches, to smile at opponents and wish the opening batsmen “good luck” before the first ball was bowled. As he took guard, the captain of the batting side invariably got a friendly applause from the fielders. Appealing for wrong claims was considered a discourtesy to the umpire as well as the batsman.

Rahul Dravid was one of the most determined players in recent times. He played to win with his bat and never required to talk offensively or take his shirt off to show aggression. Unfortunately, we have had few like Dravid,  Laxman and Dhoni - the man on the street has tended to learn more readily from the display of arrogance.

Alas! What we see on Delhi roads is what gets reflected on the cricket field or vice-a-versa. In the on-field war like scenario, the most terribly behaved teams in the world are led by the Australians, closely followed by Pakistanis, Englishmen and Indians. Indians have thankfully retained one value – they are reasonably cordial with nice opponents.

This brings me to the special feature of this 500^th Test – the absence of abuses, shoves and pushes, and interventions by the umpires for sorting out arguing and sometimes physically threatening players. If you discount intimidation through wrong appeals, the behaviour was excellent.

This has been possible primarily due to the Kiwis, who have played the game hard but remained gentlemanly. Team India also deserves appreciation for their well mannered response. However, it is disappointing that the news media has been busy selling Kohli’s aggression, sparing no appreciation for the gentlemen from New Zealand currently playing cricket in India.

Let us remember: “What gets rewarded gets repeated, and what gets repeated becomes a habit”.

My congratulations to the teams New Zealand and India for this grand show! Hope you do it again and again, and again for all others to follow!