Recapping BGT: When India faced shoddy umpiring and shambolic game spirit in Sydney

India and Australia have often treated fans with several memorable encounters on the cricket pitch in their rich history of playing against each other. However, not a single game has been able to match the intensity of the infamous Sydney Test from 2008. Several controversies, shoddy umpiring, allegations of racial abuse and a display of questionable spirit of the game by the hosts Australia marred the game.

It all began on January 2, 2008 as Australia came into the game on the back of a strong 337-run win in the first Test in Melbourne. After Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and opted to bat first, India made early inroads in the Australian batting line up as RP Singh dismissed both openers to leave Australia on 27/2.

The Australian skipper Ricky Ponting walked in at number 3 and got an early life in his innings as he was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. However, umpire Steve Bucknor didn’t raise his finger which allowed Ponting to stitch a 92-run partnership with Michael Hussey until he was finally dismissed on 55. Following his dismissal, India managed to get three more wickets quickly leaving Australia reeling at 134/6.

Andrew Symonds survives three dismissals

Then came the second controversial moment of the Day 1 as Ishant Sharma managed to find a thick edge of Symonds’ bat which was taken by Dhoni behind the stumps. However, umpire Bucknor was once again unmoved and the Australia batter continued his country’s culture of not walking despite edging the ball.

At the time of the appeal, Australia were 193/6 and Symonds was further given two more lives on the same day with umpire Bucknor not taking Dhoni’s stumping appeal seriously and refusing to send it upstairs to the third umpire.

The replays showed that the Australia batter was short of his crease on both occasions. The casual umpiring cost India massively as Symonds went on to score 162* taking Australia to a massive score of 463. In reply, India posted a massive 532 on the board with centuries from Sachin Tendulkar (154) and VVS Laxman (109).

The Harbhajan-Symonds face-off

There was more drama in the Indian innings as Harbhajan Singh had a go at Symonds who misconstrued a Hindi expletive to ‘monkey’ and alleged that the India cricketer had racially abused him. The umpires Mark Benson and Bucknor also came into the act and the situation was dealt after the match.

However, there was more drama to follow in the second innings as trailing by 69 runs, Australia scored a massive 401/7 in the second innings and set India a target of 333 in the fourth innings.

During Australia’s second innings, Michael Clarke came under scrutiny for not walking despite edging the ball to slips against Anil Kumble and the Indian fielders had to plead with the umpire to make him raise his finger. The fourth innings of the match witnessed the most intense moments of the game as India were once again on the wrong side of controversial calls.

Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting claim grounded catches

Rahul Dravid was given caught out despite having a good gap between bat and ball against Andrew Symonds. A few overs later came the most controversial call of the match as Sourav Ganguly was given caught out at second slip against Brett Lee. The India batter waited for a few seconds to confirm with the umpires whether the catch was cleanly taken and umpire Mark Benson raised his finger after taking captain Ricky Ponting’s word.

The Australia skipper raised his finger to gesture that Clarke had taken the ball cleanly. However, the replays showed that the Australian fielder had grounded the ball leaving Ganguly and former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar fuming in the commentary box.

Ponting also came under the spotlight as he claimed MS Dhoni’s catch at silly point but the India batter survived due to a rare good call by the umpire as ball hadn’t hit his bat. The replays further showed that the Australia captain had also grounded the ball but was still vehemently appealing for the dismissal.

India went on to lose the game in a thrilling last-over finish with Michael Clarke taking three wickets in over. As a result, Australia won by 122 runs and emulated their feat of winning 16 consecutive Test matches as they were applauded by the local crowd for their performance on the field. The Australian players were also in a huddle ecstatically celebrating their win led by their captain Ricky Ponting, completely oblivious to the measures that they had adopted to secure that victory.

Anil Kumble’s strong words after the Test

As expected a battle of words followed after the game from both camps, with the Indian skipper Anil Kumble coming out and openly saying that there was only team which was playing in the spirit of the game. On the other hand, Ponting continued to defend his and his teammate’s actions but was visibly frustrated when and Indian journalist asked him whether he took Dhoni’s catch cleanly.

The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) also got into the act and complained to the ICC about the poor umpiring. As a result, both Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson were removed from the umpiring panel for the rest of the series. The effigies of the Australian captain Ricky Ponting were also burnt in India by a selection of fans who openly condemned Australia’s antics on the field.

In the aftermath of the Syndey Test, India answered in style with their performances on the pitch as they won the next Test in Perth and the Commonwealth Bank ODI tri-series.