Australia Face Spirit Of Cricket Test

Cricket Australia’s (CA) decision to let the ban on former skipper Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft run its full course is a welcome step.

There was a lot of speculation and appeals from the players association to reduce the ban after the damning report on the Australian cricket culture was released.

They argued that Smith, Warner and Bancroft were victims of the system and must now be spared by cutting down the ban period.

The fact that the CA stood firm may be an indicator that they won’t tolerate any more bad behaviour from the players.

The series against India will be a big test for the Australians. Captain Tim Paine has promised to change the Australian attitude but what will happen is a million-dollar-question.

Indian captain Virat Kohli has made it clear that self-dignity comes above everything else and if any Australian hurts them, then they will get back.

Kohli said that Indians will be aggressive with their body language but will stay within the spirit of the game.

The worry for Australia is that when they take on an Indian team with an “In Your Face” attitude will they be able to maintain their composure.

The Australians are going through a bad phase and if the team comes under constant pressure then the players may break and start behaving badly.

This threat looms large. India are the No 1 test team in the world and they are scenting a series victory in Australia for the first time.

They will come at the Australians hard and without mercy. There is every possibility of flare-ups.

Many of the recent tours by India to Australia have seen a lot of friction on and off the field.

It won’t be easy for the Aussies to change tack and be restrained. Winning everything is in their psyche and they had always been told to go to any extent to win.

With the game becoming very professional and calculative, the Indians can even rile up the Aussies and push them to brink by using psychological tactics.

The rest of the world will be watching the Aussies too albeit unsympathetically. And they will not be side with them.

The Australians have got away with murder in the past with their verbal and sometimes physical abuse.

Many a team have had rough times when they toured Australia. The players, the crowd and the press always gave them a hard time.

Now the shoe is in the other foot and it is payback time for the other teams.

The series with India assumes more significance than before. The day of judgement has arrived for Australia.

Thankfully, CA took the right step by not granting clearance to the tampering trio. Now it will be a test for the Spirit of Cricket.

Paine will have a lot to do besides captaining the side. He will have the important job of keeping the players in check.

If he doesn’t, Paine will face a lot pain as his side sinks lower in the behavioural barrel.

Babu Kalyanpur
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