The ongoing Test series between India and Australia has been exciting. The competitive nature of the cricket has been brilliant to watch, while there has been plenty of animosty between the two teams, both on and off the pitch. The two captains Virat Kohli and Steve Smith have been central figures in the verbal chatter.
The series is currently poised perfectly at 1-1 with the third Test starting in Ranchi on Thursday, and former Australia captain Ian Chappell believes that such on-field aggression should not be allowed to continue.
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Irrespective of what Chappell says, one does not see sledging coming to a halt with some fiery characters in both the teams, including Kohli, Ishant Sharma (India), Smith and David Warner (Australia). Though the Australian players have been equally responsible in the sledging game, Chappell wants Kohli to control his emotions.
It is not for the first time one has seen Kohli being overly aggressive on the field. The India captain wears his heart on his sleeve, and does not mind attacking the opposition on the field with his words even if one likes it or not.
"If I had one criticism of Indian captain Virat Kohli it's that he's a bit too emotional. I've always thought as a captain that it's best if you keep your display of emotions pretty even, but he doesn't. He's a very emotional guy. To say he's worse than somebody else is unfair as everyone does it, and some blokes do it differently to Kohli. It's ridiculous to allow that much chatter to occur on the field," Chappell wrote in his column for Channel Nine.
There is no harm in the players being involved in some sledging, but it should not cross the line. But then, the question is - where is the line drawn? It is at this juncture that the umpires play an important role as they should not allow such things to continue, which might lead to further problems in the match. Chappell believes things could go out of hand if correct measures are not taken soon in the series.
"There's been a lot of bad blood and chatter between the two countries so far, but that's because it's been good and intense cricket. But the administrators are foolish if they're going to allow all this talking to continue on the field," Chappell further wrote.
"It it does, there's going to be trouble. It's been allowed to escalate over the years, and nobody is stepping in to stop it. It's going to cause a huge problem one day on the field. It already causes a bit of animosity from time to time, but from the evidence so far this series it will go beyond that at some stage."
