PONTING SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH A LEVEL 1 OFFENCE

Might once again get away without punishment

It is all over the news that Ricky Ponting reportedly smashed the glass of the LCD TV in the Australian team's dressing room after watching the replay of his run out dismissal during their first World Cup 2011 game against Zimbabwe on February 21, 2011 at Ahmedabad.

We all know that this is not the first time that Ponting has been involved in an act that is not worthy of a sportsman, let alone the captain of the three-time defending champions! His most recent tryst with ICC's Code of Conduct was when he was involved in a heated argument with Aleem Dar during the Ashes 2010-11 after the third umpire upheld the ground umpire's decision to rule Kevin Pietersen not out. He was fined 40% of his match fees back then... a punishment too light, in my opinion.

But the media reports suggest that Ponting might well get away with his glass-breaking act this time. Reports state that Ponting apologised for this incident and claimed that it was an accident and not an intentional act of smashing the glass on the TV set. The Australian media manager has also claimed that the glass has not been shattered, but just a corner of the screen has suffered a blackout due to unintentional impact with Ponting's box, which flew up to the screen as he threw it into his kit bag.

Whatever the case may be, the possibility that Ricky Ponting will get away with his apology is a depressing news to hear. I have never been a fan of Ricky Ponting's behaviour on the cricket field... and even though this act came in the dressing room, it was a direct result of what happened in the field.

I will be very surprised if eventually, Ponting escapes with no punishment for his act. Ayaz Menon tweeted that while ICC may be able to frame codes to regulate the players' conduct on the field, there isn't much that can be done for what happens in the change rooms. But he is wrong here.

Level 1 Point 1.2 offence in the ICC Code of Conduct is defined as "Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings."

Isn't the television in the dressing room a part of the ground equipments? Matthew Hayden had been charged with this offence and fined accordingly when he had broken a piece of glass in his team's dressing room after his dismissal during the 5th Ashes Test at Sydney in January 2003. Why isn't Ponting being charged with a similar offence?

At the risk of sounding like a frustrated Asian ranting out against the Aussies, I have to pose a question for the readers to ponder - had Sreesanth broken the glass of the LCD TV in the dressing room after his bad spell of bowling against Bangladesh and then apologised, would he have been let off?

RANDOM THOUGHTS AT THE END OF DAY 1

1. Shane Watson reaching his 100 off 258 balls... and I used to think that he was an opener in the Matthew Hayden mould, rather than Simon Katich!

2. How come Watson celebrated in such a sober manner on reaching 3-figures? No obnoxious smiling or anything annoying... Some relief for him nudging his way out of his infamous trysts with the nervous 90s...

3. How much money was Ishant Sharma paid for his 8 no-balls?

4. When will MS Dhoni next win a toss for India in his whites?

5. When was the last time Australia scored less than 225 over an entire day of batting? Or for that matter, spent an entire session of 33 overs strolling at less than 1.5 runs per over for 45 runs?

6. Good old David Shepherd would have cursed the Australians (Watson, North and Paine in particular)... they were stuck on 222 for 30 deliveries!

7. Finally, it was great to see Cheteshwar Pujara on the field during a Test match... even if it was only in the role of a substitute fielder!

DHARAMSALA: CRICKET'S NEW PILGRIMAGE

Yesterday's match: Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
My Prediction: Chennai Super Kings
Actual Winner: Delhi Daredevils

Today's Match: Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers
My Prediction: Kings XI Punjab

My Score: 6 / 12

DD managed to scrap together a win yesterday against a buoyant CSK side to be almost certain of a place in the top-4. Gautam Gambhir must be relieved that none of his batsmen were run out in the match. It must be added here that the skipper Gambhir played a very mature hand after his top order had found new ways to commit hara kiri. I don't think he had ever imagined that he would bat 56 balls in a Twenty20 match and score just 57.

For the first time in this tournament, DD got the chance to go in with their first-choice new ball attack... and the effect was felt straightaway. Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes rattled the CSK batsmen and Hayden's mongoose-attack in their last meeting was soon forgotten.

This result does not make any difference to DC, though. They will still need to win both their remaining matches to qualify without getting into the run rate equations. And they would not want to rely on run rates, because their current NRR is -0.438.

I am neither a fan of DC, nor of KXIP. However, I am eagerly looking forward to the match tonight because IPL is moving to a new venue today.

DHARAMSALA. I have heard a lot about this cricket ground. The 21000-capacity HPCA Cricket Stadium is located at a height of 1457 metres above sea level and surrounded by Dhauladhar ranges, leaving the spectators with a breath taking view. The place is of immense religious value to Buddhists. Today, I want to see the scenic beauty for myself.

The high altitude might turn out to be a bit uncomfortable to the DC players who have, by now, become accustomed to the hot climate of places like Nagpur and Navi Mumbai. In fact, the next visitors to Dharamsala will be CSK, another team used to the hot and humid surroundings of Chennai. This should give a small advantage to KXIP, who have become adept at throwing away any advantage or momentum on their side.

So lets wait and watch out as IPL embarks on cricket's new pilgrimage!

CSK HAS MOTIVATION, BUT IS MI TOO STRONG?

Tonight’s encounter at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium promises to be a mouth-watering clash. An in-form Chennai Super Kings side takes on the best team of the tournament so far, Mumbai Indians.

But then, even the last match at Ferozeshah Kotla, New Delhi – between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore – had promised a lot. In the end, it turned out to be pretty easy win for the hosts. I have a feeling that the CSK v MI match will be a better contest because I don’t expect MS Dhoni or Sachin Tendulkar to make any selection error like the one made by Anil Kumble at Kotla.

Last time when these two teams met, Suresh Raina played a brilliant knock, well-supported by S Badrinath. MI’s bowling, after grabbing the 2 early wickets, looked toothless (for once in the tournament). However, MI’s batting, led by the Master, chased down a seemingly daunting target of 181 with consummate ease. Sachin Tendulkar has hit only 1 six in this tournament thus far, and it came in that particular match against Muttiah Muralitharan when he danced down the track and deposited the wily Lankan over long-on boundary.

The hosts have a much better look to their squad now with the addition of Doug Bollinger. His much-talked-about ability to hurry on to the batsmen caused a lot of discomfort to the RR batsmen, and effectively won the match for CSK. I don’t know if MS Dhoni has thought about dropping Matthew Hayden. Apart from that one blistering innings with the Mongoose, he has not contributed a lot at the top. Hayden can be replaced by Mike Hussey, who is also an exceptional fielder – certainly much better than Hayden in the field. Hayden’s absence from the team might even help in dousing the competitive spirit of Harbhajan Singh, who just loves competing against this and few other particular Aussies.

The visitors, on the other hand, have a very settled look to their squad. They have always found someone who raised his hand up during sticky situations and got them out of it. The youngsters have fired well, and the bowling attack is one of the best in this tournament. However, CSK will be buoyed by the fact that MI has looked fallible in the last few matches. That they have managed to come out on top of such situations is a different matter altogether.

Chepauk, the stadium as well as the crowd, has always been kind to Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh. But then, Twenty20 is a completely different cup of tea. The motivation is a lot more for the hosts, who not only want to enter the top-4 once again, but also seek revenge for their defeat at Brabourne Stadium. But then, once SRT has the bat in his hands, he does not need to search anywhere for motivation. It’s there within.

A MONGOOSE ATTACK

Finally, the Mongoose came out of the kit! And what a way to use it... Matthew Hayden used the loooong handle in a brilliant manner and completely negated the effect of Virendra Sehwag's typically smashing innings earlier in the game.

In the end, Chennai Super Kings were comfortable winners (5 balls to spare is indeed comfortable in this format). So Raina's capatincy debut in IPL got off to a dream start... he even hit the winning six (over the off side, for a change)! MS Dhoni was missed in his captaincy... he might have had a trick up his sleeve to halt Viru's assault (I doubt it!). But eventually CSK was happy in the end.

Dinesh Karthik should not be too disappointed... one can't do a lot when Hayden lets his bat talk (Mongoose or otherwise)! What DK might be worried about is his recent captaincy record while defending strong targets. Not too long back, he was the captain when Yusuf Pathan hit a quick double century to help West Zone defeat DK's South Zone chasing a 500+ target in the Duleep Trophy final. Maybe next time he wins the toss, he should opt to chase rather than set the target!

A word on the current match in progress: DC v KXIP. I noticed the name of Adrian Barath on the team sheet of Kings XI Punjab. I wanted to see both Adrian Barath and Kemar Roach in today's game... I like the Caribbean flair (all the more a reason to support Mumbai Indians)! Well, atleast half my wish is fulfilled!