Be aggressive, be "in your face", let the opposition know you're there and bring out the intimidation factor: These are various phrases used for sledging and skirting the rules that Australia have used over the years in the "Gentleman's" game of cricket.
Mitchell Starc out of Test series
All that is perfectly alright, as long as you can take what you dish out.
Unfortunately, for Australia, when it comes to being on the receiving end of the various words and methods of intimidation and sledging, they come across as whining puppies who act as if the world is against them.
The Daily Telegraph in Australia put out a scathing article on Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble, the India captain and coach, on Thursday, saying Kohli had been furious after being controversially given out via the DRS in the second Test in Bengaluru.
Apparently, the India captain, was so furious he vented his fury at a few inanimate things and one of those inanimate things hit an Australia member on the foot – wow, can you imagine a world-class batsman being angry at getting out, when the decision could have gone the other way had the on-field umpire not given it out, with barely an appeal? Oh, the injustice! Imagine the insolence of Kohli, aye.
This is typical Aussie – dish it out, dish it out, dish it out, but find the boot on the other foot, and resort to crying and moaning.
Clearly the article, which also accuses the coach Kumble of being the "puppeteer" and "agent provocateur – ooh big words there! – has been brought out thanks to some "sources" within the Australian camp, trying their best to make the visitors in this most ridiculously-entertaining of Test series, look like some sort of victims.
Give us all a bloody break!
Kohli can go overboard sometimes, of that there is no doubt. His reaction to being given out – perfectly correct and according to the rules – was a little over the top, and his DRS (you know the Dressing Room Review System) accusations that it had been done more than once, need to be looked at, but if you start throwing a hissy fit over every perceived over-the-top reaction and pretend like you are the protectors of the gentleman's game, you're throwing yourself out there for ridicule.
And that too to be given the holier than thou comments from Australia is beyond ridiculous.
Yes, India can be an aggressive side, yes Kohli can sometimes go beyond the limit, but to make it look like the hosts are the wolves and the Aussies the poor lambs being unfairly led to slaughter is laughable.
Australia need to keep quiet, get on with the game and try and bounce back from the defeat in Bengaluru – you think any of these moans would have come out had Australia somehow managed a victory in Bengaluru? Of course not.
And the media, everyone, including the ones in India, need to just go back to reporting on the actual stuff that happens on the pitch.
You know, the wonderful bowling in the morning session of day two. Mitchell Starc's swinging brilliance and Josh Hazlewood's wickets, R Ashwin getting back to near his best, Ravindra Jadeja's quiet excellence, or even "is there something wrong with Virat Kohli's technique against the Australia bowlers?"
Those are the pertinent viewpoints that need to be made. Not the moans and groans about a controversy that should have ended when the umpires told Steven Smith, "Oh heck no Aussie captain, you can't be asking the dressing room for help with the DRS. What!? Oh, ok then. I'll just be walking back."
Maybe it is all made up. Maybe it is blown out of proportion on purpose to grab the eyeballs and bring Test matches into focus again.
But, it is already in focus. How can it not be, when the first two Tests have been so fantastic.
The second match at the Chinnaswamy was one of the best in recent memory – and if someone says the pitch wasn't good, they don't like cricket – and even a little kid, still getting to grips with the nuances of the five-day game, would have been enraptured by what was on show in those four days.
Let the game do the talking – make competitive pitches, not the drop-in roads that Australia offer, and let the bowlers and batsmen actually compete.
Yes, there will be friction and controversy, but let's just keep it in the middle and once the match is done, end it in the middle – no, no, not Gladiator style – although that would be absolutely brilliant – but with a shake of the hands, a well played, a better luck next time and a walk back to the dressing room to soak-in the victory/learn from the defeat.
