Time and again, we have been witness to the fact that there are different rules for people of different origins. The yardstick is never the same for a player from the subcontinent and a player from the rest of the world. And the saga of punishment for only subcontinent players continues, while the white-skinned players grin wickedly in the background. The latest addition to the biased club of punished cricketers is Santha Sreesanth. He seems to run into trouble every single time he displays aggression on the field. Agreed, he is not following the code of conduct. However, if he is not spared, why are the referees turning a blind eye to the antics of the English team?
By now, the whole world is acquainted with the ‘jelly beans episode,’ which apparently fired up Zaheer Khan and like Dravid says, the Indian Team performed well because it was upset. Although Matt Prior feels the aggression on the field between both teams has been blown out of proportion by the press, there is no denying that the English Team has got away from a punishment it truly deserved. A beamer accidentally bowled at the English batsman has earned a 50% match-fee fine for Sreesanth, but an intentional effort to distract the Indian batsmen has been ignored. We ask - why is there a disparity? Of course, at the end of the game both teams shook hands amicably and started afresh. However, this is not something the referees consider every time they punish a (sub-continent) player. We don’t request a reprieve, but equity in treatment. I hope the referees are listening.
