Sorry, Symmo

[kabir]

A hardcore fan of the game, nothing peeves me more than when I see the fringes taking the centrestage in cricket. That's what precisely happened when the allegations of racial slur (and if the photographs splashed across the newspapers are anything to go by, they were not just allegations) directed against Andrew Symonds overshadowed the game.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7050264.stm

The Man of the Series, Symonds might have been involved in some altercation with Sree Santh and others but that doesn't provide the crowd an excuse to target the tourists. Placards at the Wankhede said everything from "Symonds sucks a$$h*le" to "Go back, monkey face", ridiculing the claims that the Indians were the most hospitable people on earth.

On the top of that, BCCI prez and Union Agro Minister Sharad Pawar refused to recognise it as racism and said the Aussie was lost in translation: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sharad_Pawar_defends_Indian_crowd/articleshow/2470357.cms

And if you think what Mr Minister said was outlandish, spare a thought for the Police chief of Vadodara (where the issue first surfaced) who went a step ahead and said, "the monkey-chants from the crowd as an invocation to Lord Hanuman"!!

People have trying to play down the issue by saying that racism as such doesn't exist in India. My take is that there are few societies more racist than us Indians. You only have to look at the martrimonial supplements of the Sunday newspapers to see the advertisements seeking very blatantly a "fair" bride/groom. Then again the caste issue in itself is a manifestation of racism.

In fact if you see, the varna-vyavastha as we mildly put it was based as much on occupation as on varna (colour). But that's for someother time.

For now, the BCCI should get out of the denial mode and take sringent action against the offenders so that the next time people should think twice before telling Symonds to suck a$$h*le.

[deepshi]

leaves a very bad taste in d collective mouths of all d Indians (more so-settled abroad,,n a few like u..) n d Aussies
N m sooooo glad sum1 brought up dis topic!
wud u believe,,,people here in Austarila r dealin wid it so cool-ly! Gosh!
they r hell lotta tolerant n generous!
India hota to vahan rehne wale Angrezon ka sirr phodd detey!
yahan k most-distributed, for -free paper mein full coverage tha--bt they hv nt fulminated/invected... instead,dealin it as it is!
bt jo bi ho... Indians k Australian tour pe -there WOULD b fireworks!;):DA hardcore fan of the game, nothing peeves me more than when I see the fringes taking the centrestage in cricket. That's what precisely happened when the allegations of racial slur (and if the photographs splashed across the newspapers are anything to go by, they were not just allegations) directed against Andrew Symonds overshadowed the game.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7050264.stm

The Man of the Series, Symonds might have been involved in some altercation with Sree Santh and others but that doesn't provide the crowd an excuse to target the tourists. Placards at the Wankhede said everything from "Symonds sucks a$$h*le" to "Go back, monkey face", ridiculing the claims that the Indians were the most hospitable people on earth.

On the top of that, BCCI prez and Union Agro Minister Sharad Pawar refused to recognise it as racism and said the Aussie was lost in translation: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sharad_Pawar_defends_Indian_crowd/articleshow/2470357.cms

And if you think what Mr Minister said was outlandish, spare a thought for the Police chief of Vadodara (where the issue first surfaced) who went a step ahead and said, "the monkey-chants from the crowd as an invocation to Lord Hanuman"!!

People have trying to play down the issue by saying that racism as such doesn't exist in India. My take is that there are few societies more racist than us Indians. You only have to look at the martrimonial supplements of the Sunday newspapers to see the advertisements seeking very blatantly a "fair" bride/groom. Then again the caste issue in itself is a manifestation of racism.

In fact if you see, the varna-vyavastha as we mildly put it was based as much on occupation as on varna (colour). But that's for someother time.

For now, the BCCI should get out of the denial mode and take sringent action against the offenders so that the next time people should think twice before telling Symonds to suck a$$h*le.

[deepshi]

We really shud apologise earnestly,,get rid of dis pussilanimous n pretentious attitude. B a sport..guys!

[shailendra]

What a bunch of sore losers! You know, no one likes a cry-baby anyways!

...In fact the worst part is that those people in the pictures that are being shown (see attached below); quite look like they may even have just got a bit of an education at least once in their useless lifetimes... with some sorta sense drilled into their numbskulls... of course I would be equally disgusted, but would probably have to shrug it off if the usual 'suspects'- the kind of 'street-ass' people that you see burning flags, effigies, etc.etc. regularily here and there were the ones shown behind those shameful acts of jumping up and down, immitating monkeys at a colorful sports event, like the bajrang dal making noises with series against Pakistan or something...

But proper educated looking gentry? (apparently even including a woman)
Just goes to show what a bunch of bad losers we Indians can be!

These are the same people that would turn around in an instant and use those same insulting placards for our own cricketers when they are out on a naught, drop a catch or give away too many runs while bowling!...

Bottom line? We are the worst sports spectators and fans in the world! Fickle and and totally like 'bae-painde-ka-lota's'...

My kudos to the police/authorities for at least taking time to evict them from the grounds and even charging them (even if gets thrown out later) at least that was a consolation face-saver...
As for Sharad Pawar; well you know, he is just an idiot, period! What you gonna do?...

Maybe only when the other cricket/sports nations completely start banning Indian home-series and stop sending their teams here to the Indian shores/venues is when these bloody idiots would probably get some sense drilled into their 'racist' heads....maybe! Just maybe!!.... :mad:

-Disgusted fan!!!

[sidchhikara]

Lets not take sides here............ The crowd were a bunch of idiots..so is Sharad Pawar and gang.....and so is the Australian team. Australians invented trash talking.............. they were the ones who called Jayasuriya spider monkey a few years ago. Here is a video of them shoving Sharad Pawar........ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjSJ3qoLJ8k.................... not that I care for Sharad Pawar........kick him in the nuts for all I care..........Also here is Andrew Symonds making a pointless observation about how Indians are not humble in victory.................

http://www.theage.com.au/news/cricket/symonds-says-indian-champs-lack-humility/2007/09/27/1190486481833.html

Here is some half-wit Australian sports commentator about the controversy....

http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/gentle-symonds-leering-sreesanth/

I collected all that info in 10 mins..... there might be more stored up in Google's guts.

The point is that there should be no racism...period.......but Australians complining about it is a joke.

I would reserve my judgement after India's tour of Australia....Sreesanth is in for a tough time over there.

I have known racism first-hand.....its the most despicable thing...........and I have a feeling Australians are not exactly innocent in that department.

Also I watched a match between India - Pak at Feroz Shah Kotla in which Kumble picked up 10 wickets................ the stupid crowd kept calling Inzimam Aloo throughout the match................ This monkey business that the crowd pulled in mumbai is somewhat like that............because I believe racism is about power, about feeling superior................... I am not sure if thats where those losers at Wankhede stadium were coming from.

I do empathize with Symonds..........but I am sure he must have experienced some form of racism from his fellow countrymen sometime in his life..........maybe he should talk about that too........lets have an open discussion.

Its all entertainment..............I am sure the Australian press spun it hard.............to fill the sports page.......symonds is just an excuse............ I am yet to hear about any Australian sports commentator who has the balls to call Australia on its past semi-racial behavior............... I personally donot care for their BS. Lets not have double standards.

So in conclusion, I think what those idiots did at the game is inexcusable......... but the Aussie press and people need to shut up and look inside their girebaan........ kahin na yeh Gandhi ke bhakt.....zyadatar haramzaade hi hoonge........sure there will be lots of good people also..........zyada shoor haramzyaade hi macha rahe hain.

[kabir]

Here is a video of them shoving Sharad Pawar........ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjSJ3qoLJ8k.................... not that I care for Sharad Pawar........kick him in the nuts for all I care..........

I saw that match and the ceremony as well. These Indian politicians are quite accustomed to gatecrash other's party. Y the on earth is he standing there once he's given them the trophy? Does he want to spray the podium bubbly as well.

I don't have problems with Oz shoving him away, however the way Ponting is asking for trophy certainly isn't graceful.I wonder if he could've done this to ICC CEO Malcom Speed or for that matter chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

[ssindhu]

leaves a very bad taste in d collective mouths of all d Indians (more so-settled abroad,,n a few like u..) n d Aussies
N m sooooo glad sum1 brought up dis topic!
wud u believe,,,people here in Austarila r dealin wid it so cool-ly! Gosh!
they r hell lotta tolerant n generous!
India hota to vahan rehne wale Angrezon ka sirr phodd detey!
yahan k most-distributed, for -free paper mein full coverage tha--bt they hv nt fulminated/invected... instead,dealin it as it is!
bt jo bi ho... Indians k Australian tour pe -there WOULD b fireworks!;):D
dera you are forgetting how symonds mocked at team india's t20 win. in his column he said that "indians are treating them as if they have done too big and are rock stars".

in anycase i am not justifying what the fans did. well monkey gestures are no big thing since it's nothing but a funny trick to mock, people do it in generic also. but yes the placards thing was objectionable and calls for some action.

But i still dont show some sympathy towards symonds because he invited it himself the way he had been acting towards indian team since t20.

rest you know well why Oz media is not taking the matter seriously because they simply cant as Oz team had been the biggest sledger and is unbeatable. so simply they dont consider it as indian achievement. lolllllllll

sharad pawar has right to say that it is no big deal. we still cant forget who was racist when they pushed sharad to get clicked.

if one understands just one language, the others get carried away to speak in that language.

shall i call it a case of 'carried away' to the symonds behaviour towards team india lately. anyways it was due for long time. i hope they learn something from this now.

on the contrary i think same for sreesanth. i hope he too wont mind if it happens to him on some oz tour.

that should be the spirit.

but let it be. it was enjoyable

[kabir]

If Symonds ridiculed India's T-20, it was very much a part of what we call verbal sparring, which in itself is a part of the build-up to a match/series. The players from both sides are involved in it and the Indians too sounded fairly confident (in the hindsight, it proved nothing but cockiness) of beating the Oz in the ODIs.

But that doesn't call the need for the spectators to pitch in and racially target someone. You say a the monkey-chants weren't an act of racism, rubbishing it as "a funny trick", I'm afraid if you take the global perspetive, it is some pretty serious stuff.

In European football, if you follow it, monkey-chanting Barca's Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho by several La Liga clubs was a major issue and the UEFA strictly told the Spanish football body to check it. Offenders were spotted and even banned for life. In Europe, stadiums have been banned from staging matches if a club failed to stem the problem.

But you know, we Indians are so accustomed to making casteist remarks ourselves that we tend to overlook the seriousness of the issue.

Anyway, India are going have a torrid time Down Under -- even otherwise they would've. But thanks to it, they can now look forward to one excuse to their forthcoming flop show: "we couldn't perform coz the crowd was after our lives".


dera you are forgetting how symonds mocked at team india's t20 win. in his column he said that "indians are treating them as if they have done too big and are rock stars".

in anycase i am not justifying what the fans did. well monkey gestures are no big thing since it's nothing but a funny trick to mock, people do it in generic also. but yes the placards thing was objectionable and calls for some action.

But i still dont show some sympathy towards symonds because he invited it himself the way he had been acting towards indian team since t20.

rest you know well why Oz media is not taking the matter seriously because they simply cant as Oz team had been the biggest sledger and is unbeatable. so simply they dont consider it as indian achievement. lolllllllll

sharad pawar has right to say that it is no big deal. we still cant forget who was racist when they pushed sharad to get clicked.

if one understands just one language, the others get carried away to speak in that language.

shall i call it a case of 'carried away' to the symonds behaviour towards team india lately. anyways it was due for long time. i hope they learn something from this now.

on the contrary i think same for sreesanth. i hope he too wont mind if it happens to him on some oz tour.

that should be the spirit.

but let it be. it was enjoyable

[neels]

Yea if sthing of similar nature wud ve taken place against Indians anywhere in the World, They wud ve made a big issue out of that. And now they nt even acnowleging it. I Liked Andrew Symonds statement that I am not disappointed that it hapeened, such things happens; But I am disappointed by the fact that they saying it didn't happen.
Its really sad.

[anrtish]

rightly said Kabirji.

[vivekpannu]

We really shud apologise earnestly,,get rid of dis pussilanimous n pretentious attitude. B a sport..guys!
Nah mate, I dont agree with any kind of apologies. Did you remember when Damien Martyn pushed aside Sharad Pawar during a presentation ceremony infront of thousand people and media; and didnt even bother to say SORRY after that matter was so much hyped. I believe let begone be bygones. It happens everywhere. Symonds was too good for Team India. That was the jealousy and frustration coming out of the crowd's mouth. It happens everywhere not only just in India and Australia.
And for those whose are sitting on Australian bench: Australians/New Zealanders too call the English POMMIEs (exactly POHM : prisoner of his/her majesty) and there would be many more examples which I couldnt remember.
So we just need to chill a bit. But yet I would emphasize to be kind and more courteous to the guests/visitors and treat them the way you want to be treated.

[pnauhwar21]

Agree with Vivek here..just because 4 folks in the crowd did something foolish doesn't mean we indians are the worst spectators and racists as some of you have claimed..In sports, everywhere you go, the home crowd would try to jeer the opposite team in some way or the other..

As for saying Sorry..that should be the last thing to do for Australians..whatever action was taken against the 4 folks is enough..Australians don't even care to do that..Sharad Pawar is a very good example..Kabir mentioned that shoving him was fine as he was standing in way of their photoshoot..isn't there a way to request someone and that too a senior personality?(and point is not what kind of politician Pawar is but just that he was an Indian and a senior official there)

And here are some links about how racism is handled in Australia :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/australia/4670676.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5383808.stm

Do check the 2nd link where they say that 'the term "pom" ("prisoner of his majesty") can still be used against the English..

After all this you guys still think we need to apologize? Are we a bunch of losers or what? I believe in tit for tat..you be good, I will be very good..you be bad..I will be bad as hell..

[ssindhu]

If Symonds ridiculed India's T-20, it was very much a part of what we call verbal sparring, which in itself is a part of the build-up to a match/series. The players from both sides are involved in it and the Indians too sounded fairly confident (in the hindsight, it proved nothing but cockiness) of beating the Oz in the ODIs.

But that doesn't call the need for the spectators to pitch in and racially target someone. You say a the monkey-chants weren't an act of racism, rubbishing it as "a funny trick", I'm afraid if you take the global perspetive, it is some pretty serious stuff.

In European football, if you follow it, monkey-chanting Barca's Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho by several La Liga clubs was a major issue and the UEFA strictly told the Spanish football body to check it. Offenders were spotted and even banned for life. In Europe, stadiums have been banned from staging matches if a club failed to stem the problem.

But you know, we Indians are so accustomed to making casteist remarks ourselves that we tend to overlook the seriousness of the issue.

Anyway, India are going have a torrid time Down Under -- even otherwise they would've. But thanks to it, they can now look forward to one excuse to their forthcoming flop show: "we couldn't perform coz the crowd was after our lives".
how do you react to ponting's say to sreesanth while shaking hands on satuday t20 match that 'we will welcome you in australia"? i dnt remember any indian fan being so hostile to any of pak palyer, though they consider pak as arch rival. why they did this to symonds? symonds is victim of infused proocation and he himself has to be blamed for that.

[ssindhu]

Yea if sthing of similar nature wud ve taken place against Indians anywhere in the World, They wud ve made a big issue out of that. And now they nt even acnowleging it. I Liked Andrew Symonds statement that I am not disappointed that it hapeened, such things happens; But I am disappointed by the fact that they saying it didn't happen.
Its really sad.
like any other team, indians too have seen sledging from Oz team. but i dnt remember seeing anyone complaining. infact sachin is highly priased in media for his cool head with mcgrath when mcgrath kept misbehaing and sachin simply said "you cant stop me doing so". i think aussies need to learn some now...it's saturation. they have humiliated leaving none in world teams. you have to speak the person's language if he doesnt understand yours.

i appreciate sreesanth's view when he spoke to arnab on times now...that he wont balme any spectator if he misses a catch due to the distrubing crowd behind. because suvh things happen and the palyer should be efficient to ignore anythings else and concentrate on the game. the player only needs to take blame in such case. very intelligent thought indeed

[vivekpannu]

but I am sure he must have experienced some form of racism from his fellow countrymen sometime in his life.
Yes he had. He is an aboriginal and they are subjected to racism quite often here.
Remember another incident when one Aussie commentator(maybe Geoff Marsh) called Hashim Amla(South African Muslim cricket player) as an terrorist(he apologised later on). In another incident another Aussie commentator, started playing violin(pointing towards his chest) when his fellow commentator was talking about breast cancer. The occasion was the match being played on International Breast Cancer day. He too apologised lately when he was at risk of being fired from his job.
The English too try to frame Warney in a new sex scandal on his every tour to the UK.
Mind you all, Australians are too good in playing games at field and mind games too.
I appreciate any sportsman who comes forward from any kind of such criticism and performs superbly. Hence I appreciate Roy. He ripped apart Indian bowling attack inspite of being a subject to such a so called RACISM.
Cheers ROY, and F such crowd and F such comments. You have been the MAN.Keep up the sportsmanship alive.
why they did this to symonds?There is no criticism for a mediocre.I believe, Criticism is only either for the best or for the worst. Roy has been the best. If he would have went bowled out for a DUCK in every inning who would have shouted against him???? Thats why he faced the criticism though it was interpreted as a racial comment.
If however Roy happens to read my comments please take this monkey thing as an avtar of Hanuman ji:p

[shailendra]

I think we are confusing two issues here... the sportsmen's behavior ON the Field, WITH or AGAINST each other... versus.... 'we' the spectators reacting directly to what we think was misbehavior against one of our 'heroes' or something etc.

And as is obvious; THOSE ARE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ASPECTS, and the line between seems to having become faded (if not completely disappeared) in the comments I have been reading here!... Understandably and curiously (and very much ironically too) it actually points to the root of the problem where 'we' the spectators try to second guess WHAT actually happened and who said/sledged what to whom and whether the first person was actually on the wrong side, or if the culprit was the one who reacted to the sledging! Add to that 'Home' team sportsperson vs. visiting/rival team athlete and the situation only keeps getting confusing and even more misunderstood!

But anyways, forget the spectators now, because that would be a futile discussion... let's talk Cricket then, and before some of you start jumping to conclusions and start calling the others names like 'sitting on the Aussies bench', let's see if you just talk the talk or even try to walk the walk too....
Let's put our money where our mouths are..........................

My Bottom line?- what happens between the players HAPPENS between them, no one is a 'Doodh peeta hua bachcha' who cannot defend himself and/or reply back accordingly (or let's say by his actions; for example hitting that four/six on the next ball as a counter reply, or sending down a beamer that nearly beheads the batsman, or clean-bowling his stumps etc.) without the rest of us jumping to conclusions and saying that this guy or that so and so on guy who sledges all the time SHOULD BE THE LAST PERSON to complain for being racially abused...

I mean, sledging is a part and parcel of the game now, and every team is doing it, including the Indians to some extent...specially the use of microphones in this era of cricket has made all these things more transparent than before (It apparently very much happened in the early times too, but no one knew what was being said; unless you were a lip reader...)... now the match referee has much more records on what happened and who said what then any spectator or news reporter can hazard a guess...and usually when these more verbal comments are caught up on the commentators/on ground microphone only then some of the stuff immediately becomes public record and jumpstarts the imagination!

But my point is sledging is always going on (specially the team that is fielding and has for example the wicket-keeper and the slip cordon 2-3 fielders behind the batsman making life difficult with each ball for him...)...

But where do 'we' the spectators come into this; how could (like two or three of you seems to be saying here) compare what Symonds or the Aussies always tend to do....with what the spectators were doing to him/them????????? How can we not condone that and actually defend it by pointing sillily that Symonds should be the last person, or the Aussies the last team to be complaining so for spectators making a mess out of a great game and venue???......... I mean, should when Sreeshanth bowled that beamer that nearly beheaded Pieterson in England have been retaliated with chucking brickbats at him by the spectators???...would that have made you feel better if the spectators there too would have simply said, "Oh, so what if he is complaining of a smashed forehead, he should be the last person to complain after sending down that beamer on purpose!"...

I mean, come on people.... we are what we are, and should not have to resort to such tactics either as spectators (yeah, best of luck with that) or even as sportspersons (I think it is ridiculous that the Indian captain's can't successfully reign in Sreeshanth, and he looks like a fool sometimes when he tries to stare down some batsman at random after bowling down that good ball in an over usually immediately after being hit for a four); if the Aussies sledge; let them....they CAN because you know WHAT, they deliver too! They are the Cricket champs, make no mistake of that... the only way one can sledge them back in the same fashion is by beating them at their own game FIRST!... by convincingly winning against them and THEN (and only then) any heated exchanges/acts/actions by Mr. hothead Sreeshanth and/or party would be applauded in kind and even appreciated, because if not it would simply be compared to let's say an Alsatian trying to out growl a Tiger in the setting of a jungle.........

-An Indian Cricket fan still sitting on the Indian bench, who firmly believes we don't need to resort to such tactics to feel the "better" sportpersons!

[dreamer]

dera you are forgetting how symonds mocked at team india's t20 win. in his column he said that "indians are treating them as if they have done too big and are rock stars".

in anycase i am not justifying what the fans did. well monkey gestures are no big thing since it's nothing but a funny trick to mock, people do it in generic also. but yes the placards thing was objectionable and calls for some action.

But i still dont show some sympathy towards symonds because he invited it himself the way he had been acting towards indian team since t20.

rest you know well why Oz media is not taking the matter seriously because they simply cant as Oz team had been the biggest sledger and is unbeatable. so simply they dont consider it as indian achievement. lolllllllll

sharad pawar has right to say that it is no big deal. we still cant forget who was racist when they pushed sharad to get clicked.

if one understands just one language, the others get carried away to speak in that language.

shall i call it a case of 'carried away' to the symonds behaviour towards team india lately. anyways it was due for long time. i hope they learn something from this now.

on the contrary i think same for sreesanth. i hope he too wont mind if it happens to him on some oz tour.

that should be the spirit.

but let it be. it was enjoyable




..... Indian Media is Great when it comes to criticize our own people and own country .....
Well ... Oz hate losing nd who love it BTW ....
For Sreesanth ... bhai disco or gaaligalocah ke alawa dhang ki bowling bhi ker le .... But today's indian bowlers (so called fast) look better than Sreenath and Venktesh prasad (woh aise khelte they jaise ahsaan ker rahe ho team per .. aren't they !! )

Racism .... huhhh .... Abay Australians Thook dete hain indians per Aus main ofcourse !!