Ponting finds a 'positive' in Bhajji-Sree incident

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MaaPeya Da LaaDLa
It doesn’t require a high IQ to figure out who laughed the loudest on hearing that Mumbai Indians’ stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh had been banned for 11 IPL matches after slapping Team Mohali pacer Sree Santh the other night. Yes, the Aussies, of course.

During an interaction at an Australian Football League-organised programme on Tuesday, the Aussie captain was asked whether there was a sense of vindication on learning about Harbhajan’s IPL ban after what happened in Down Under? "We all know what happened in Australia and can make our own judgement... I can’t say anything more," Ponting said, without trying to be overly diplomatic.

Pressed for a comment on Harbhajan’s latest ‘act’, Ponting offered a short but telling answer. "What he (Bhajji) did was wrong."

Ponting actually found a ‘positive’ in the Harbhajan-Sree Santh episode. "The only positive aspect was that it happened between two Indian players. Had a foreign player been involved in the same incident, it would have been far worse."

Read between the lines and it will be clear that ‘Sydneygate’ has left an indelible scar on the Aussies’ minds.

It won’t be long before ICC’s ‘Captain of the Year’ shifts from the T20 to Test mode. Ponting will leave for home, along with other Australian players, to attend a national camp before embarking on the tour of the West Indies. But that doesn’t mean he will lose touch with his IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders. "The focus will soon be on Test cricket, but I’ll be following the Knight Riders’ fortunes from the Caribbean," said Ponting.
 
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