Quantcast

On-field chat will cause "huge problem"

Ian Chappell calls on officials to rein in on-field chatter during current India-Australia Test series

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell says there will be a "huge problem one day" if the game's administrators allow the on-field chatter in the current Border-Gavaskar series to continue unchecked.

Quick Single: Lyon says India is under pressure

Australia and India are in Ranchi ahead of the third match of what has been a heated series so far, with tensions reaching boiling point during the second Test in Bengaluru last week.

Despite relations between the two sides being far from cordial, the International Cricket Council's match officials did not hand down any sanctions following their review of player behaviour from the second Test.

Smith, Kohli square off in verbal stoush

Chappell says the bad blood between the two sides is a by-product of the "good and intense cricket" in the first two games, but says the time has come for the match officials to step in.

"The administrators are foolish if they're going to allow all this talking to continue on the field," Chappell wrote in a column for Wide World of Sports. "If it does, there's going to be trouble.

"It's been allowed to escalate over the years, and nobody is stepping in to stop it. It's going to cause a huge problem one day on the field.

"It already causes a bit of animosity from time to time, but from the evidence so far this series it will go beyond that at some stage.

"It's ridiculous to allow that much chatter to occur on the field."

Quick Single: Finger fault won't stop Lyon spinning

Chappell's comments come after South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis expressed his surprise at the absence of any sanctions stemming from the Bengaluru Test.

Du Plessis was sanctioned following the second Commonwealth Bank Test against Australia in Hobart last November for sucking on a mint and rubbing saliva onto the ball.

Du Plessis sanctioned for ball tampering by ICC

Speaking from New Zealand during their current Test series against the Black Caps, du Plessis, who was found guilty of ball-tampering but escaped a ban, said he had expected more action from match officials given his treatment last year.

"I was (surprised), yes," he said. "Purely from the reason of what I went through in Australia for something I feel was a lot smaller, so (I am) surprised with it.

"Maybe it's because I speak on a personal point of view and felt I was treated very harsh.

"When you see something like that you'd hope it (the treatment) would be exactly the same."

Combative India captain Virat Kohli, who Chappell says has a tendency to be "a bit too emotional", was at the centre of much of the on-field chatter during the Bengaluru Test.

But Chappell, who led Australia in 30 Tests between 1970 and 1975 and also captained the side during World Series Cricket, believes the tourists need to reign in their behaviour as well, saying "they're no choirboys themselves".

Smith caught up in DRS controversy

And he says any team that goes into a match with a pre-planned tactic to unsettle an opponent through a verbal attack needs to be stopped.

"I'm hearing it all the time from players ... that it's part of the game," Chappell wrote.

" ... What’s gone on to date is not part of the game and never should be.

"There were a few things said when I was playing, but they were heat of the moment things.

"At the moment teams talk about it like a planned tactic. Oh, this guy, we can upset him'. Now that's total rubbish."

The third Test gets underway on Thursday."

Test Squads


India (for third and fourth Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.


Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade


Australia's schedule in India


Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune - Australia won by 333 runs.


Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru - India won by 75 runs.


Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi


Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala