Perhaps overwhelmed and taken aback by the outpouring of anger and disappointment from the majority of his countrymen as regards the behaviour of his team in Sydney, Ricky Ponting has grudgingly admitted that he might have made a couple of mistakes during the second Test.
Interestingly, not one of Ponting's 'mistakes' referred to claiming catches when the ball was grounded, to batsmen lingering on despite nicking the ball to first slip, or to his own unthinking refusal of Anil Kumble's suggestion that the racial abuse charge levelled against Harbhajan Singh be settled between the two captains.
Ponting has revealed to an Australian newspaper that his parents had to change their telephone number after receiving 'threatening and abusive' calls. He has expressed disappointment at the reaction of his countrymen, consistently maintaining that his team played the game 'hard but fair,' a view held only by the Australian team, Cricket Australia and some loyal members of the Australian media. The captain and his team-mates are in denial, further infuriating Australians who have been quick to request Indian journalists here not to judge Australia by the national cricket team's behaviour.
Even in his sketchy admission of mistakes, Ponting has chosen to proffer his own version of things. Conceding that some of his team-mates 'might not have shaken Kumble's hand' after the Test, Ponting said his team had been 'so wrapped up with the end of the game that they (Kumble and Ishant Sharma) were already off the field.' “We all walked along when it was over and shook their hands," Ponting has said.
The Aussie captain might perhaps take another look at taped evidence, which will show him that Kumble and Ishant lingered on in the field of play far beyond the demands of sporting behaviour, merely to shake hands with the Aussies and congratulate them on the win. Kumble would have been perfectly within his rights to walk off the field, especially with no Australian showing any signs of acknowledging his and Ishant's presence in the middle. Maybe, Ponting is beginning to believe only what he wants to and not what is the truth; that is a dangerous sign going forward, especially for the captain of the World champion side.
Ponting was adjudged leg before after hitting the ball in the first innings, after having earlier been given not out when caught down the leg-side. “There's no doubt I stood there for a second or two too long and I shouldn't have done that,” he said of the leg-before decision. So far so good. Then, he added, “It probably didn't help that I was shown throwing my bat when I got back to the rooms.”
The problem, by inference, was not Ponting throwing his bat, but being shown doing so!! Really, that is no surprise, given the bubble he and his team-mates have chosen to be enveloped in.