Randiv isn't the first !

After expressing my anger against Suraj Randiv on Facebook and Gmail buzz, I went through many a blogs and articles. I now feel all of us have over-reacted; Viru, his favorite Captain Dada, Bedi as usual and most of us Indians have !

Yes, it wasn't exactly a sporting act by Randiv. But he isn't the first to do so. Sri Lankans have a proven track record here. Hence targeting a young bowler is unacceptable. If someone has to answer, it has to be the man at the helm. We very well know he is not very fond of seeing India at the top the Test Championship table.

Amidst all the cacophony, one former Indian Star has talked some sense. Randiv or Sri Lankans are not the only culprits. India too have done this before ! I am surprised but also admire the courage and integrity shown by Mr. Chandu Borde.

What he said is this: "No team wants to allow a batsman to cross the century mark and all the teams in the world have succeeded on number of occasions in denying the batsman of a century. Even we Indians have followed this and never gave a freedom for the batsman to set a mark. It was a brilliant knock by Sehwag, he deserves all accolades," he said.

"I would not say it as 'not cricket'. Some people are generous to a fault but others, like the Australians, won't give you an easy hundred to take. There can be two opinions on this; whether Sri Lanka were unsporting or not.

"I remember (In Delhi in 1958-59 series) against the West Indies I had scored a century (109) in the first innings and was 96 batting in the second with fast bowler Roy Gilchrist repeatedly bowling bouncers at me. When two balls remained non-striker Vijay Manjrekar came and told me you have to get to the century. I hooked the next ball, it went for a four but I disturbed my wicket and was hit-wicket," he recalled.

"In the same match, we didn't allow Gary Sobers to get to his double hundred when he was on 199. It's part of the game. We Indians have also adopted such strategies. Even local cricket in India is played in that manner," he said.

I remember an incident from South Indian filmdom. Malayalee girl Nayan Tara made her debut as a girl next door in Malayalam. But once she crossed over to Chennai and started acting in Tamil movies, she shed quite a few pounds and a lot of cloths too. She got rid of her middle class inhibitions and did a few bold scenes with her friend Chimbu.

Men like me didn't mind a bit ! But the Malayalee crowd over-reacted to this and she was castigated by the prudish Mallu middle class. A hurt Nayan came out with a statement, "I haven't done anything that wasn't done by anyone in the past". She was right !

Instead of offering an apology to Sehwag, Randiv too could have told, "I haven't done anything that wasn't done by anyone in the past". He hasn't done that and we should admire that.

A famous statement of Manoj Prabhakar comes back to haunt me, "Is Hamam me saare nange hain". Those who live in glass houses don't throw stones ! India should forget and get over this incident. Let us move on !