By IANS
Sydney : Australian captain Ricky Ponting, while admitting that some dubious umpiring decisions did take place during the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), was visibly angry and flustered at his press-meet.
When a media person asked if he felt the catch he took (of Mahendra Singh Dhoni) was clean, Ponting said: “If you are actually questioning my integrity in the game, then you shouldn’t be standing here.”
Ponting also said that the match in which Australia beat India by 122 runs was played in the right spirit.
“Absolutely no doubt about this match played in right spirit. Fair enough to say, there were some mistakes committed by the umpires, but I am not going to comment on that. They are out there to do the best job like me. What we can do is to play good cricket and we will stick to that,” said an ecstatic Ponting, who Sunday equalled former captain Steve Waugh’s record of 16 consecutive Test wins.
In contrast, a calm and composed Kumble took a dig at Ponting’s comment and said: “Only one team was playing in the right spirit.”
The dramatic second Test was marred by a numerous umpiring blunders from veteran West Indian Steve Bucknor and England’s Mark Benson. To boot, there were also charges of racial abuse against Harbhajan Singh.
In the first innings Ponting asked Rahul Dravid to continue batting after a catch was not taken clearly, but in the second innings in contrasting style he claimed a doubtful catch off Dhoni’s bat.
Ponting also revealed: “At the start of the series, me and Anil had come to a joint agreement that third umpire referrals in case of controversial catches would be settled on the field by the captain’s verdict.”
“So after Pup (Michael Clarke) took (Sourav) Ganguly’s catch, I asked him whether it was clean or not and he nodded positively. Then when umpire Benson asked me, I gave him my verdict by raising the finger.”
The flood of mistakes continued on fifth day, as both Dravid and Sourav Ganguly became victims of poor umpiring decisions. At the same time, Mike Hussey, who became Australia’s second centurion in the second innings, benefited by another dubious umpiring decision, leaving Indians frustrated in the Test.
Dravid had not played the ball when he was adjudged caught out.
A little later, Ganguly stood his ground after Clarke took a low catch in the third slip off Lee. Umpire Benson instead of consulting square-leg umpire Bucknor, consulted the Australian captain before giving Ganguly out, giving rise to another controversy.
TV replays, however, suggested that Clarke may have picked the ball up after it hit the ground.
Towards the end, when Kumble and Harbhajan Singh looked like taking India to a fighting draw, Ponting effected an inspired bowling change bringing in local lad Clarke in the 14th mandatory over.
Clarke turned out to be the man with the ‘golden touch’. He dismissed Harbhajan Singh (7) and Rudra Pratap Singh (0) off the first two deliveries. Ishant Sharma, the last man, survived the hat-trick ball and then edged a catch into Hussey’s hands at first slip to help Australia equal their world record of 16th consecutive Test win, previously achieved by Steve Waugh’s team.
“I was never thinking about the 16th win, I was more focussed on winning this match,” the Australia captain said.
Asked what prompted him to give the ball to Clarke, Ponting said: “When the strike bowlers were unable to gave us breakthroughs, I just threw the ball to Pup as he has a golden touch.”
Clarke said that it would be a memorable match for him for his last minute heroics and was happy that he grabbed the opportunities that came his way.
“Honestly, when Punter (Ponting) gave me the ball. I didn’t expect to wrap up the innings. Moreover, till now it was an unforgettable match for me, as I made no runs, dropped catches but the three wickets in that over turned everything,” said Clarke.