Analysis of the Crime Scene.

Indians all over the world wake up to a hostile news which comes with their morning coffee. Its not like they expected the contrary, but they were not sure that this had actually happened. I have to say Anil Kumble and his team deserves a lot of credit for being professional - to the best of their abilities - during these relatively rare emotional situations.

The good thing about Kumble, apart from his cricketing skills, is his level-headedness. He knew that injustice was done to them from all corners but yet he maintained that elusive self-respecting attitude. That is the sign of a leader. A man who knows what it is to lead.

Ponting on the other hand, is being called all sorts of names, both by Indians, Australians and other nationals following the game. 'Fire him' is the mantra emerging!!

Step in Indian board and every step is taken with a lot of precaution. Whats at stake here is a lot more than what meets the eye. Its not just about maintaining the public posture of Indian pride, there are a lot of commercial interests which are below the covers. India has always been the money puller for the game of cricket and its because of each and every fan like you and me.

The players realise this more than anyone. If there is a totally blatant lie which has led to a ban, and no one from the BCCI is stepping up to protest, the players wont really sit there counting their stars of fate. Its good that the players have told BCCI - either you tell the world that the tour is on hold, or we will tell. The board duly came out with a strong statement.

Appeals and paperwork are happening. Lawyers are licking their lips over the case, this is easy money and a lot of free publicity to go with. But the main player in this controversy is 'ICC'. The ball is in their court.

Who will lose more in this battle? Morally, financially and emotionally? At the moment all roads lead to Australia on this one and the first one to get the axe will be Ricky Ponting. He claimed a catch which was grassed and backed his so called 'integrity' in an angry press conference. Any street kid playing cricket in the front verandah of his home, can understand and feel the difference between a catch taken freely or being grassed.

Its nothing to do with seeing how you land. You will know instinctly that you have taken it cleanly. If you dont, there is something wrong with your reflex setup and its called a 'medical' condition. To suit that medical condition only when you are to benefit shows the hollowness of one's character. Morally, Ricky Ponting is the big loser. He can be a technically good player, but cricket always had the upper edge over other games when it came to 'gentlemanliness'. Its not rugby or ice hockey!

Now again, no reaction from the match referee.. Why, because it is an Australian. It has to be said that racism indeed exists in world cricket. Not the 'monkey' abuse kind, but the step-motherly treatment for all the asian teams. Starting from Muralitharan to Pakistan's test fiasco in England, the Asian teams have always been the one who had been targetted.

Michael Slater created a ruccus once in a test match in India, McGrath reacted like an unstable man when shouting at Sarwan. Nothing happened. It was labelled 'mental disintegration' and many articles and books followed. But no one wanted to contain it from within the ICC. I think one should call it by the same standards one does to a 'Sreesanth'!

The reason is simple. Cricket in some quarters is still played with the colonial supremacy in mind. Its disappointing but this is truly the case. An Australian can get away with murder but an Indian can get banned even with no evidence. This is the actual racism which exists!!!

Umpires being incompetent can be for a couple of decisions in a match, but the packaging of this tour does indeed smack of some kind of match-fixing, whether intentionally planned or extensively executed. If I was aboard ICC, I would simply go all out and annull this test match and set the tone right for the game of cricket, its integrity and its credibility.