Jonny Bairstow: Gautam Gambhir – After Ravichandran Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir has blasted out at sledgers for spirit of the game logic after Jonny Bairstow controversy during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. England wicketkeeper batter was run out after he gingerly walked over to Ben Stokes at the non-striker’s end assuming it was a dead ball as the over was finished. However, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey was alert enough and sensed the ball was not dead and inflicted a runout. It was very much in the MCC laws of the game.
However, the England wicketkeeper’s controversial out led to a whole spirit of the game debate, with many questioning Australia’s tactics on day five to get a wicket. After Bairstow’s wicket, the Lord’s crowd booed the Australians.
Gambhir did not find any fault in what Carey did and lashed out at those questioning the decision calling them sledgers. “Hey, sledgers… Does the spirit of the game logic apply to you or is it just for Indians?” a visibly irate Gambhir tweeted.
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Bairstow’s wicket proved to be the turning point of the match as England lost the second Ashes despite Ben Stokes’s whirlwind 155. After the match, England coach Brendon McCullum’s take on not having beer anytime soon with Australians also showed that England were not happy with the way Bairstow was out.
Jonny Bairstow: Why Gautam Gambhir is upset over sledgers having an issue with spirit of cricket issue
Interestingly, the spirit of cricket comes into the picture whenever English player gets out in a controversial way. During a women’s match between India and England, Deepti Sharma mankaded Charlie Dean during the closing stages of the ODI match. A lot of people questioned Deepti for mankading the English batter and winning the match despite the laws of the game stating Mankad rule.
However, when a England player gets embroiled in a controversy like Ben Stokes’s controversial five runs that ricocheted off the bat during the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019, the same sledgers keep quiet. Gambhir is upset by the double standards and feels the rule book changes for Indians and other teams.
Ben Stokes on Bairstow dismissal
When Stokes was asked whether he would have withdrawn the appeal had any opposition batter being dismissed at Bairstow, the southpaw replied by saying yes. “When is it justified that the umpires have called over?” he said on BBC’s TMS. “Is the on-field umpires making movement, is that signifying over? I’m not sure. Jonny was in his crease then out of his crease. I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out.
“If the shoe was on the other foot I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game and would I want to do something like that. For Australia, it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no.”
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