What do you think of Harbhajan Singh?

[Fusion]

Yep - that's why all Indian bowlers have absurd banana-swings and no one else is able to do that. Also, let's not forget the allegations against Dravid and Tendulkar from the Kiwis and just about every other umpire/team that's played them.

Oh wait...

Oh that’s right, no one else has been able to get great reverse swing except Pakistani bowlers. Not even the Indians against the Ausies last year. And forget the fact that Wasim and Waqar may have been great bowlers who had skills that other ordinary bowlers didn’t. They were Pakistanis, so of course to you they must have been cheating all the time.

 

[GIMH]

Oh loook, I'll go and get droonk in pooblic and goo oot on a pedaloo. That'll make me loook like the bast.. basi... pinnacle of reespectabilitee that I am.

Oooh. An' I'll get peeesed in pooblic and at t'up Prime Meeenister's hoose too.

How endearing.

Even if you don't buy into it, I can see why people wouldn't like him because of it.

Personally, I don't know (most) of these guys of the pitch, so I judge 'em on how much of a pillock they are on it. This means guys like Harbhajan, Hayden, Ponting, Clarke and Lee score some decent negative points.

Personally don't see what harm Flintoff's boozing did to anyone else (well, maybe his team-mates at the WC) but each to their own I guess. He has never claimed to be the pinncale of respectability or anything, and doesn't generally call out his opponents.

Meh, I'm his fanboy and all that jazz so people will give me stick for it, just don't think that someone who gets pissed in the public eye can be compared to some of the other names brought up in this thread.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Doesn't bother me either; what they do off the pitch is generally their own business. He seems like a decent chap on the pitch.

Monty or [insert English wicketkeeper who shouts "catch" when the ball has run along the ground for 4 after a beautiful cover drive here] are much more annoying.

 

[archie mac]

If we're going to argue from a greater "moral" perspective here, calling someone a monkey or saying "**** you" or being a general dick isn't quite as bad as repeatedly cheating on your wife (when you have two kids) and making it into a public embarrassment. Can't imagine what the poor woman must've gone through.

This gives me an idea - World Asshole XI:

Hayden
Slater
Ponting
Miandad
Clarke
Saleem Malik
Moin Khan
Harbhajan
Warne
Shoaib Chucktar
Waqar

Not that I agree with anyone on your list, but Slater? He had one brain explosion in ten years of cricket

And what did Clarke do? Claim a catch you did not like? Give me a break

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, Monty's appealing is making him genuinenly unpopular these days it seems, fair enough too.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

And what did Clarke do? Claim a catch you did not like? Give me a break

Cheated. That's enough for me.

 

[BoyBrumby]

And what did Clarke do? Claim a catch you did not like? Give me a break

Two catches, tbf.

Not sure I like where the thread's going, anyway. Not sure how other players being or not being pricks impacts on Harbhajan being one too. Two wrongs, etc, etc...

 

[Evermind]

Oh that’s right, no one else has been able to get great reverse swing except Pakistani bowlers. Not even the Indians against the Ausies last year. And forget the fact that Wasim and Waqar may have been great bowlers who had skills that other ordinary bowlers didn’t. They were Pakistanis, so of course to you they must have been cheating all the time.

Cricinfo - As old as the hills
YouTube - Cheating pakistan cricketer

It's on video, it was seen by Crowe, it was seen by Hair, it's been alleged by too many people for me to bother naming here, but go ahead and keep convincing yourself that it's not true. Really, it's so hard to refrain from extrapolating the attitude of fans, players and a cricket board to the case of a whole nation. It makes sense of a lot of things, politically.

Forgot to include Inzi and Afridi in the XI:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFN4jhN49KA

I don't think I've seen more blatant cheating on a pitch before.

 

[archie mac]

Cheated. That's enough for me.

I have seen at least 50 players claim catches that were much worse then that, but not remembered becasue the game was not so close/important

And still I thought them legal. It should be rememebered that TV is 2d and life 3d

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I have seen at least 50 players claim catches that were much worse then that, but not remembered becasue the game was not so close/important

Rubbish. I've seen one or two catches taken as badly as that. He pushed the ball into the turf!

 

[Fusion]

Cricinfo - As old as the hills
YouTube - Cheating pakistan cricketer

It's on video, it was seen by Crowe, it was seen by Hair, it's been alleged by too many people for me to bother naming here, but go ahead and keep convincing yourself that it's not true. Really, it's so hard to refrain from extrapolating the attitude of fans, players and a cricket board to the case of a whole nation. It makes sense of a lot of things, politically.

So you're claiming that Wasim and Waqar cheated every game they got the ball to swing? And I'm supposed to accept that as reality and if I don't it's a reflection on Pakistan as a whole? Love how you are able to give me a lecture about ignoring reality but are quick to defend Sachin and Dravid when they were accused of something similar.

They said it was some kinda freak mistake. It happened with them ONCE. With Waqar and Akram, it was an every-match thing.

Double standards much? And for the record, I don't think that Dravid and Sachin are cheats. Just like I don't think Wasim and Waqar cheated every time they went out on the pitch.

 

[archie mac]

Rubbish. I've seen one or two catches taken as badly as that. He pushed the ball into the turf!

Must be just me, I have watched it a 100 times, and it looks fine to me

And I have watched catches claimed where the ball landed a M in front of the claimer

 

[archie mac]

So you're claiming that Wasim and Waqar cheated every game they got the ball to swing? And I'm supposed to accept that as reality and if I don't it's a reflection on Pakistan as a whole? Love how you are able to give me a lecture about ignoring reality but are quick to defend Sachin and Dravid when they were accused of something similar.



Double standards much? And for the record, I don't think that Dravid and Sachin are cheats. Just like I don't think Wasim and Waqar cheated every time they went out on the pitch.

When Pakistan did it, it was ball tampering, when England did it in 2005 it was bowling skill

I think they should all go and suck a mint

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Must be just me, I have watched it a 100 times, and it looks fine to me

And I have watched catches claimed where the ball landed a M in front of the claimer

Are we talking about different catches?

And there's been a couple (a Pakistani wicketkeeper as I recall) but in that case, he was censured after the match and served a punishment accordingly. Clarke didn't get punished at all, did he?

 

[Burgey]

I dont have mind reading powers, but just that worse mistakes are ignored in case of some cricketers(Warne, Flintoff) and in some cases excuses are made (e.g. Slater Vs. Dravid , Mcgrath vs. Sarwan) and that is double standards.

I am sorry if I come across as a ****.

Hey Sanz, I might disagree with you on some things and we might have a lttle tiff on the 'net, but I don't think you come across as a ****, nor do I think you are one.

Harbhajan on t'other hand ......

 

[Burgey]

So have you heard of guys like Sidhu, Maninder Singh and Yuvraj Singh talk about Harbhajan? They are the ones who know him best...


Heck, even Ravi Shastri and Gavaskar have said a lot about how he is as a person.. I have chatted to him once and he came across as a genuinely friendly bloke... He has a quick temper and perhaps thinks a bit much of himself but then the same is probably true of Warney, whom I have talked to on 3 seperate occassions...


I think he is dumb to be acting the way he does most of the time but he is no way worse than a Ponting or a Symonds or a Hayden or a Warney for me...

HB you're right, but I guess the problem is the thread asks for our thoughts on him, and we can only go by that which we know (that goes for all players of course).

I've heard stories of Harbie looking after his family and that's certainly admirable, just as McGrath looks after his and is involved in charities, and Ponting has his own foundation too.

We're all forming opinions on these guys from afar (although Punter nearly ran me over in his Porsche 4WD at the SCG one day as he was arriving for practice, so from that POV I guess I got closer to him than I should have .

 

[Sanz]

They said it was some kinda freak mistake. It happened with them ONCE.

YouTube - Dravid and the controverisal ball tampering issue

Doesn't seem like a mistake to me.

How about this one :-

YouTube - The art of ball tampering

With Waqar and Akram, it was an every-match thing.

Yeah Right !!!

 

[Sanz]

Yep - that's why all Indian bowlers have absurd banana-swings and no one else is able to do that. Also, let's not forget the allegations against Dravid and Tendulkar from the Kiwis and just about every other umpire/team that's played them.

Oh wait...

Dude, you need a reality check :-

Cricinfo - Tampering a response to batsmen-oriented laws - Chappell

"I'll think you find that bowlers have been doing things to the ball since ****y was an egg."

Cricinfo - Jarman accuses South Africa in tampering incident

""The ball is only 16 overs old yet one side has been tampered with and you can see where they have run their thumbails down the seam which opens up,....I saw Allan Donald (who he insisted was not one of the players tampering with the ball) all of a sudden start swinging the baIl everywhere on the television and I thought 'hullo, what's going on here?'"

 

[Jono]

Are we talking about different catches?

Yeah he's talking about the India vs. Australia Sydney-gate one.

You're talking about one vs. NZ right?

 

[Jono]

Doesn't bother me either; what they do off the pitch is generally their own business. He seems like a decent chap on the pitch.

I think there are cases, less so with cricket and more-so with football codes, that when these guys have been clearly convicted of serious ***ual assault or rape, or bashings/racist acts, its fair enough to despise them on the field.

I don't really mind that Flintoff gets drunk and acts like a goof, no more than I was delighted that Ben Cousins recently came to my AFL team despite being a druggie in the past.

But there is a line you'd think.