We hope Gambhir misses the Nagpur Test

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so says http://content-www.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/story/376894.html he reminds them of punchy Justin Langer

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The India opener Gautam Gambhir, who has appealed his one-Test ban for elbowing Shane Watson, is regularly on the lookout for a confrontation when he is batting, according to Australia's Michael Hussey. Gambhir, who is the leading run-scorer in the series with 463, was punished for his run-in with Watson on the opening day of the third Test in Delhi and also argued heatedly with Simon Katich. "He looks around for it [chat], to be honest," Hussey said. "It hasn't been a plan of ours to go at him and talk or whatever ... but I must admit he does go around the field looking to engage certain players and looking to get involved and that sort of thing. "So maybe that is part of his character, looking for a clash to try to pump himself up a bit more. He's always looking to engage, not so much 'g'day how are you going', but an intense look. It's quite funny really." Hussey said Gambhir reminded him of Justin Langer because he was a "small and punchy little character". "He's a very good player and probably someone who has exceeded our expectations about how well he has played," he said. "We're sort of hoping he'll miss the last Test but I think he'll still play pending his appeal." The South Africa judge Albie Sachs has been appointed to handle Gambhir's case. India lead the series 1-0 and Hussey has noticed extra confidence in the home side, which has not been afraid to have a dig at the visitors in the three Tests thus far. In Bangalore, Zaheer Khan called the Australians defensive, an accusation supported by VVS Laxman over the past week, while Gambhir successfully stirred his opponents, even before the elbow incident. "They have got a team that's very, very experienced, a lot of seasoned, hardened international players and they know their games very well," Hussey said. "They are quite confident about their games and perhaps in our team we haven't got the 80-90-100-Test players they have. So they probably see themselves as a bit superior in the experience stakes and maybe aren't scared of giving a little bit back." Hussey was pleased Australia's younger players had not been intimidated. "The good thing I have seen is the guys who have only played 15 to 20 Tests or less haven't backed down from that," he said. "They haven't just taken it on the chin, they've been willing to bite back. We don't want to go over the top, but if a guy is going to needle you you're not going to back away from it."

[bharat297]

I must say ... to some extent I agree with him. A lot of the younger Indian players in general are feistier and much more aggressive and confrontational. However, its not like they're doing anything different than the Aussies in that regard (besides the elbow).

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I must say ... to some extent I agree with him. A lot of the younger Indian players in general are feistier and much more aggressive and confrontational. However' date=' [b']its not like their doing anything different than the Aussies in that regard (besides the elbow).

That *is* the main point, and Aus and ICC are skirting that.

[bharat297]

Yeah thats true. I agree that the elbow was unnecessary from Gambhir (and thus deserved the punishment) however I also believe that the Aussies deserve greater punishments for some of their on-field antics. They got it right with Watson and the 10% fine, but to not punish Katich despite the fact that he repeatedly had a go at Gambhir (in front of the umpire) was not fair. Similarly, there was an incident with Michael Clarke and Tendulkar, where I believe Clarke deliberately held on to Tendulkar to prevent the single, which should have resulted in a punishment (or at least a warning). Instead Clarke got off with nothing.

[bharat297]

Because these instances are not reported by the umpires, whenever something bigger happens the Aussies are quick to point out that they have excellent records. I wonder why that is ... :hmmm: Example ... when one looks past the smokescreen put up by the Aussie media in relation to the Harbhajan matter, one should take note of the fact that he got a 50% match fee for abusive language. 50% for abusive language? That seems harsh ... but I suppose they took into account prior misdemeanours. However, Katich called Gambhir a "cheating f***ing w***er" and doesnt even get reported. As a result, Katich's record is clean, and if something happens to Katich later, he gets a lesser penalty than he would had the first instance been reported. Similarly with the Zaheer send-off ... he got fined 80% of his match fee. Now for someone who doesnt have a prior record in that regard ... 80% seems extremely harsh. Remember Ponting's send-off to Harbhajan in the Adelaide ODI. Nothing happened to Ponting. The only difference between that and this was that Zaheer ran a bit first. That little run added an extra 80% to his penalty. Furthermore, Ponting's record is worse than Zaheers.