dear balaji, in south africa, when tendulkar was seen on camera 'removing' dirt from between the seems of the ball every one interpreted it as lifting the seam. if you are ready to accept that ghichrist is so saintly, why can't u accept tendulkar's version? till others learnt the art of reverse swing, every one argued that pakistani bowlers were cheating! now it is a stock in the trade af all the fast bowlers! there is nothing wrong in resorting to emotional outburst once in a while, if that is what you want to call prem's article. let us give evry one a fair chance before you decide to crucify them. when all the replays show that both ponting and clark had grounded the ball while claiming a catch, at least on hind sight they should have the decency to talk of 'hand of god' a la Maradona. then, why should one expect decency and gentlemanly behaviour from these so called great players? may be they are direct incarnations from the 'gladiators era'. so my friend balaji, please learn to be proud of our icons. this is the problem with us. we are very quick in granting godliness to our icons; unfortunately quicker in kicking them out at the merest pretence of failure! if harbhajan says that he did not use any inappropriate word let us support him. if he is later proved to be telling a lie, let us start a crusade to get him banned for a longer period. till then, let the law of natural justice prevail. boys, concentrate on the matches ahead. the best way to make every
