Was going to reply to this earlier, but then "Database Errors" and then dinner intervened. Really don't think I'm being holier than thou. I've made it pretty clear that I think both captains have at times been too ready to be overly defensive, and was pretty strident in my criticism of Ponting's few overs of madness yesterday.
You say that the abberent hour today was due to the bowlers bowling poorly - I say it was a poorly set field for the situation - as you say, it was open to Hayden and Hussey to knock the ball around and score at the rate required to win, but it wasn't them going for big shots that brought them undone, it was a quality delivery to Hussey, and stuffed up attempt to knock it around by Hayden.
The negative line being bowled at that time made the situation more ugly, and I don't accept that this was a result of the bowlers erring when Dhoni was standing outside the leg stump before they bowled. As I understand it, in the end the umpires actually warned Dhoni to stop that soon before he took Sehwag off.
And the Indian team certainly appeared to be trying to slow the match down when Hayden and Hussey were together. I imagine if it had continued much longer, they might have been looking at a time-wasting charge. 10 overs in an hour with two spinners operating is terrible. I understand why they'd be tempted to do it, but its a bad look for test cricket.
I like Dhoni and think he's a good captain. I think he let himself down for a period today, and briefly gave Australia a window of hope. Once he regained his nerve, he got the result that India deserved. And kudos to him for that.
I don't think it can be holier-than-thou to hold him to the same standard as my own team. To be clear, I'm not saying that I think that India somehow don't deserve the win because of it. What Ponting did yesterday was worse, and my objection is as a cricket fan, rather than an Australia fan.
yep
