Gavaskar-Ponting verbal duel: another opinion

Here’s an interesting link to the ‘other’ side of the Ponting-Gavaskar debate.

http://i3j3cricket.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/gavaskar-ponting-war-of-words-aussie-views/

My own take is that Gavaskar is a TV commentator and Ponting a player. Two different sets of rules apply. A commentor can stay some stupid things and get away with it more easily than a captain of the premiere cricket team.

Regardless, now even commentators have to be careful, especially when racism and bigotry is involved and now, commentators need to understand that viewing the ‘australian’ team as a bad-behaviour team is also racism. Meannig, is Gavaskar saying that every single Australian has bad behaviour? What about Gilchrist’s unpopular decision to ‘walk’ every time he nicked a catch.

Such universal statements however are equally serious as Ponting’s verbal ill-informed joust against the Indian cricket team… and so, Ponting too is wrong.

Best response… would be to keep the issue between players… like one-two Australian players, and Gavaskar. Rather than bring the whole Australian cricket team (and the nation) or the Indian Cricket team (and the nation) into this.

Let Indians talk about Indians, and Australians about Australians. And when opinions to cross=over, don’t generalise!!!