Harsha Bhogle has hit out at the English media for their criticism of India’s Deepti Sharma after she ran out England’s Charlie Dean at the non-striker’s end in the third ODI between the two sides at Lord’s.
Deepti has been on the receiving end of criticism ever since she dismissed Dean at the non-striker’s end, stopping mid-way through her bowling action to send back the England batter, who was out of her crease. The wicket brought an end to India’s tour of the country and helped the visitors clean-sweep the ODI series 3-0.
The India all-rounder has been in the firing line of pundits from England, who have deemed her act unsporting. Deepti later claimed that the India team had warned Dean for backing up too far, a statement that was refuted by Heather Knight, who was not a part of the series. Knight attacked the Indian side for “lying”, as a debate on the controversial mode of dismissal started once again.
Stuart Broad, Sam Billings, James Anderson, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler among others are just some of the cricketers from England who have voiced their displeasure over the law. Moeen expressed his desire for a ban on the controversial run-out while Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, said that he would call the batter back if one of his teammates attempted a non-striker run out.
Bhogle, in a strongly worded post on social media, has come out in Deepti’s defence and also attacked “reasonable people” in England for their “colonial” way of thinking.
“I find it very disturbing that a very large section of the media in England is asking questions of a girl who played by the laws of the game & none at all of another who was gaining an illegal advantage and was a habitual offender. That includes reasonable people and I think it is a cultural thing. The English thought it was wrong to do so & because they ruled over a large part of the cricket world, they told everyone it was wrong. The colonial domination was so powerful that few questioned it.
“As a result, the mindset still is that what England considers wrong should be considered wrong by the rest of the cricket world, much like the ‘line’ the Aussies say you must not cross having decided what the line should be which is fine in their culture but may not be for others. The rest of the world is no longer obligated to think the way England does and so we see what is so plainly wrong. So too the notion that turning tracks are bad but seaming tracks are fine. The reason I say it is cultural is that it is what they are brought up to think. They don’t think it is wrong.”
He further said that the ones pointing fingers at Deepti should stop believing that the world should move according to their whims and that they should wake up from their “centuries-old colonial slumber”.
“The problem arises, and we are guilty of it too when people sit in judgement on each other’s approach. England wants the rest of the world not to like running out batters at the non-striker’s end and have been vitriolic and abusive towards Deepti and others who have done it. We come hard too asking others to wake up from centuries-old colonial slumber.
“The easiest thing is to play by the laws of the game & stop worrying about the subjective interpretation of the spirit of the game, stop forcing opinions on others. The law says the non-striker must be behind the crease till the bowler’s arm is at its highest point. If you obey that, the game will move along smoothly. If you point fingers at others, like many in England have at Deepti, you remain open to questions asked of you.
“It is best if those in power, or who were in power stop believing that the world must move at their bidding. As in society, where judges implement the law of the land, so too in cricket. But I remain disturbed by the vitriol directed towards Deepti. She played by the laws of the game and criticism of what she did must stop.”
