da bwin： Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, is insulted by claims from Virender Sehwag that Australia cheated during their acrimonious SCG victory in January
Cricinfo staff08-Oct-2008
Ricky Ponting has said Australia were honest in their catching during the Sydney Test © Getty Images
Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, is insulted by claims from Virender Sehwag that Australia cheated during their acrimonious SCG victory in January. Sehwag said therewas no point in having a catching pact for the four-Test series, whichstarts in Bangalore on Thursday, because it wasn’t applied properly on theprevious occasion.”That’s fairly insulting,” Ponting said. “In the first innings [at theSCG] I didn’t claim a catch because I wasn’t 100% sure.”It’s amazing how they’ve picked out a lot of negatives from that game anddon’t seem to be speaking about the Perth Test [the third match of thatseries, which Australia lost], where we probably had the same thingshappen to us. Not one member of the Australian team has spoken about it.We go about our cricket in different ways.”Kumble, however, downplayed the issue. “I’m not really aware of what he [Sehwag] said. That’s all in the past. Let us not dwell on the past.”Sehwag said the Australians appealed for one-bounce dismissals at the SCG.”We’d have won the Sydney Test match if they hadn’t claimed catches takenoff half-volleys in that game,” Sehwag told ESPN-STAR.India lost by 122 runs after Michael Clarke, who picked up a contentioustake off Sourav Ganguly on the final day, collected three wickets in thefinal over. Shortly after, Anil Kumble said only one team played the matchin the spirit of the game. The fixture was also controversial for a seriesof umpiring mistakes, excessive appealing, batsmen not walking to thickedges and the race row between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds.Kumble said on Wednesday the Sydney affair would not affect either team inthis series. “Let’s not sit and dwell on what has happened in the past,”he said. “I’m sure this series will be played in the right way.”Ponting said the fact India were still talking about the defeat was a goodsign for Australia. “I’m not sure what they are trying to achieve,” hesaid. “It was a Test we won, a crucial Test for the overall series. As Isaid at the time, it was one of the best moments I’ve had on a cricketfield. To win the way we did was an outstanding effort by the team.”