It’s crazy, it’s bizarre. I don’t quite understand the mindset of fellow Indians.
Here’s one (foreign) guy who is openly showing the finger to Indians and Indians are trying to assess the situation as to why it happened. Have we lost all our self-respect? Is Calcutta not a part of India? Don’t the sentiments of people of Calcutta count?
I am not a Sourav fan- never I was and never I will be. But then, he is an Indian and he’s my countryman. And I am NOT going to accept any disgusting and shameful behavior of a foreigner towards my countryman. Irrespective whether Chappell’s finger was directed towards Sourav’s fans, Calcuttans, the media or even Sourav, I think there are no two explanations required for his sordid act.
The ironical part is that everyone is trying to come out clean- like the media- saying that it wasn’t directed towards media. So, does the media think that they are not Indian?
A few pointers:
1) Right from his selection, dignitaries like Sunil Gavaskar opposed Chappell’s selection.
2) Chappell has had a very poor track record as a local coach in Australia.
3) He is infamous for his involvement in the underarm bowling incident in the New Zealand–Australia ODI in 1981, when he ordered brother Trevor to send down the last ball with an underarm action to prevent the Kiwis from winning the match, widely considered a blot to the game.
4) Chappell is a hypocrite and cannot be trusted. On the urge of BCCI and media, he shakes hands with Sourav over a pool table and behind is back sends a complain e-mail- the very person who had flown down to Australia to receive some batting tips and the same man who supported his selection as the Indian coach.
And as I am penning this article, I hear that Chappell has again retracted from his statement- constantly going to and fro- now he says that he did not show his finger. Today, early morning he said exactly the opposite saying that he did show his finger. When asked if it was to the Calcutta (Indian) crowd, he replied he did not find it necessary to answer that.
No, Mr. Chappell, you goddamn HAVE TO REPLY to our questions, now that you have committed the sin. We in India find such behavior very obscene, offensive and against our culture and tradition.
Furthermore, this villain must apologize not only to the Indian people, Calcutta crowd, Sourav’s fans but also must apologize to Sourav Ganguly himself.
We DON’T need such a coach like Greg Chappell who has an imbalanced and impaired mental attitude and personality.
As for Rahul Dravid and especially Kiran More, I would like to advise them to watch their tongues and actions or they could also be engulfed in the Indian public’s fury. As they say “Apne pairon par kulhari mat maaro”.
And for BCCI and officials- trying to suppress an issue such as this will only result in further increasing the gravity of the problems.
Lastly, this is NOT a closed matter! It’s just the start at the bud level!!