THE International Cricket Council has endorsed declining standards of player behaviour by failing to take adequate action following the spiteful opening day of the third Test here.
India's double century-maker Gautam Gambhir could escape an automatic suspension after avoiding a charge of "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact" for striking Shane Watson with an elbow during Wednesday's play.
In November last year, Gambhir was found guilty of that same offence, violating level 2.4 of the ICC's code of conduct, when he collided with Pakistan's Shahid Afridi during a one-day match.
The ICC handbook states that any player found guilty of the same offence within a 12-month period automatically has the severity of the penalty raised a level. While level two infringements carry fines ranging from 50 to 100per cent of a player's match fee and a suspension of one Test or up to two one-day matches, Gambhir would have been facing much tougher level three penalties. These range from a suspension of two to four Test matches or four to eight one-day games.
Instead, Gambhir has been charged with a level two offence which states players "shall at all times conduct play within the spirit of the game as well as within the Laws of Cricket".
The charge relates to Gambhir striking Watson with an elbow to the ribs while taking a run on Wednesday. The often vocal Watson has been charged with the same broad offence but with a lesser level one penalty after being accused of saying something inappropriate to Gambhir.
A level one offence carries a fine of up to 50 per cent of a player's match fee.
The charges were laid by on-field umpires Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar and third umpire Suresh Shastri and will be heard by match referee Chris Broad overnight.
Inaction on other incidents appears to endorse opponents abusing each other to the point where an umpire is forced to step between them and the fielding team's captain and vice-captain become involved.
That is the only conclusion which can be drawn from a failure to take action against Simon Katich and Gambhir for their unseemly verbal clash late on Wednesday.
It has been alleged that television footage shows Gambhir calling Katich a "f**** cheat", igniting the conflict after Gambhir had his path blocked by Katich while trying to field off his own bowling. Their confrontation became so heated that umpire Bowden stepped between them.
And twice vice-captain Michael Clarke stepped in to pull Katich away while captain Ricky Ponting also ran in to calm things down, pointing to Clarke to take Katich away from Gambhir.
The same cover-all level two clause of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game was employed to report India fast bowler Zaheer Khan during the second Test in Mohali. Zaheer was fined 80 per cent of his match fee after running to give Matthew Hayden a fearful send-off when he was dismissed in the second innings.
It continued India's record as the worst behaved team in the world, with about 50 separate guilty verdicts at disciplinary hearings compared to Australia's 30 or so over the past decade.
While Gambhir's strike of Watson looked deliberate and upset the Australians, the Indian opening batsman claimed it was an accident.
"It (contact) wasn't deliberate. It just happened. I don't think I needed to get into this argument with Shane Watson because I feel he had no option of getting me out," Gambhir said. "There wasn't a need for me to stick my elbow out, it just happened."
Gambhir also tried to play down his ugly clash with Katich.
"It's part of the game," Gambhir said. "They were desperate to get me out and they were trying to break my concentration."
Clarke felt the need to step in and drag Katich away to stop the incident getting out of control.
"It just looked like the boys were talking so I just wanted to make sure say what you want to say and let's get on with it," Clarke said. "I said 'Kat, let it go, mate. Just get back and bowl. It's fine. Let it go'."
India's double century-maker Gautam Gambhir could escape an automatic suspension after avoiding a charge of "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact" for striking Shane Watson with an elbow during Wednesday's play.
In November last year, Gambhir was found guilty of that same offence, violating level 2.4 of the ICC's code of conduct, when he collided with Pakistan's Shahid Afridi during a one-day match.
The ICC handbook states that any player found guilty of the same offence within a 12-month period automatically has the severity of the penalty raised a level. While level two infringements carry fines ranging from 50 to 100per cent of a player's match fee and a suspension of one Test or up to two one-day matches, Gambhir would have been facing much tougher level three penalties. These range from a suspension of two to four Test matches or four to eight one-day games.
Instead, Gambhir has been charged with a level two offence which states players "shall at all times conduct play within the spirit of the game as well as within the Laws of Cricket".
The charge relates to Gambhir striking Watson with an elbow to the ribs while taking a run on Wednesday. The often vocal Watson has been charged with the same broad offence but with a lesser level one penalty after being accused of saying something inappropriate to Gambhir.
A level one offence carries a fine of up to 50 per cent of a player's match fee.
The charges were laid by on-field umpires Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar and third umpire Suresh Shastri and will be heard by match referee Chris Broad overnight.
Inaction on other incidents appears to endorse opponents abusing each other to the point where an umpire is forced to step between them and the fielding team's captain and vice-captain become involved.
That is the only conclusion which can be drawn from a failure to take action against Simon Katich and Gambhir for their unseemly verbal clash late on Wednesday.
It has been alleged that television footage shows Gambhir calling Katich a "f**** cheat", igniting the conflict after Gambhir had his path blocked by Katich while trying to field off his own bowling. Their confrontation became so heated that umpire Bowden stepped between them.
And twice vice-captain Michael Clarke stepped in to pull Katich away while captain Ricky Ponting also ran in to calm things down, pointing to Clarke to take Katich away from Gambhir.
The same cover-all level two clause of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game was employed to report India fast bowler Zaheer Khan during the second Test in Mohali. Zaheer was fined 80 per cent of his match fee after running to give Matthew Hayden a fearful send-off when he was dismissed in the second innings.
It continued India's record as the worst behaved team in the world, with about 50 separate guilty verdicts at disciplinary hearings compared to Australia's 30 or so over the past decade.
While Gambhir's strike of Watson looked deliberate and upset the Australians, the Indian opening batsman claimed it was an accident.
"It (contact) wasn't deliberate. It just happened. I don't think I needed to get into this argument with Shane Watson because I feel he had no option of getting me out," Gambhir said. "There wasn't a need for me to stick my elbow out, it just happened."
Gambhir also tried to play down his ugly clash with Katich.
"It's part of the game," Gambhir said. "They were desperate to get me out and they were trying to break my concentration."
Clarke felt the need to step in and drag Katich away to stop the incident getting out of control.
"It just looked like the boys were talking so I just wanted to make sure say what you want to say and let's get on with it," Clarke said. "I said 'Kat, let it go, mate. Just get back and bowl. It's fine. Let it go'."
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