The Hindu : Sport : Game, the loser

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006

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Game, the loser

Game, the loser

Thanks to the standoff between umpire Darrell Hair and Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq over the ball-tampering issue, the ball is now in the ICC adjudicator, Ranjan Madugalle's court. Where the needle of guilt points to is a matter of conjecture. Whatever be the verdict, the game and the cricket lovers are the biggest losers in this episode.

Vengarai S. Raman

Thanjavur

Both parties to blame

In the Inzamam-ul-Haq-Darrell Hair face-off, if one party's defiant attitude (to be construed against a perceived insult) had transgressed the laws of the game, the other had taken the principle of rule observance to extreme levels, to a point where such an exercise actually proved counter-productive to the interests of the game. In the process, both parties did not spare a thought to the harm their actions had caused to the image of the game.

Suresh Manoharan

Hyderabad

Umpire who seeks limelight

Darrell Hair might have had enough evidence to prove that the ball had been tampered with, but as an Elite Panel umpire, he ought to have tackled the issue professionally and politely. But given his history of umpiring, it appears that he wants to be in the limelight all the time. My big question to Mr. Hair is — would he have acted in the same manner if it had been a non-Asian team. The incident highlights that no umpire has been as controversial as Mr. Hair has been.

P. Krishna

Chennai

Irreparable loss

The death of former Pakistan all-rounder Wasim Raja comes as a shock. The elegant southpaw with immaculate footwork won the hearts of innumerable cricket lovers. His passing away is an irreparable loss to the cricketing fraternity.

S. Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet

Unfortunate blow

At a time when Indian hockey is looking up under the able leadership of V. Bhaskaran, our ace penalty corner expert Sandeep Singh has met with a freak accident. It is a huge blow to our side ahead of the World Cup in Germany.

N. Mahadevan

Chennai

Thanjavur

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