All round cricket

Cricket is said to be an allrounder's game. This was perfectly exemplefied in the match between England & Pakistan courtsey Heir.

Hair, out of prejudice slapped on a ball tampering charge on Pakistan. The ball was 18 overs (some papers say 55 overs) old and had begun to reverse swing, which is not very out of the ordinary. He had on very shaky grounds slapped the fine. The number of runs was not really an issue (5, in case u were wondering) but the slander of ball tampering is too great for a team to take sitting down. I dont know what the rule book says, but a 5 run penalty for ball tampering is too small. Its like a 250 rupee fine for 100 crore ghotala. If ball tampering is found, then it should be actioned upon immediately and severely.

Pakistan on the other hand is a different story altogether. In the spirit of the game they should have continued to play and put up a show for the paid public. They did manage to make a show of the whole affair. I am not against protesting, but drastic steps taken to prove an unnecessary point are not needed. They could have worn black armbands - worn their t-shirts inside out, I dont know something, but not this. From their action on television it seems they were not sure of their decision. When the umpires and the batsman came out, they didnt go....Why did they have to go out later ? Do they expect the umpires to tow their line on field? This is not done...

The following is a little sensitive and people are advised to read it with a pinch of salt.
I am forced to consider the idea - Would any other team, say India have done the same thing if faced with a similar situation? I would think not. I think Pakistan had to prove their point and the only way they thought they could do so if they made a lot of unnecessary noise about it. Could this be because they feel they were targetted and had to umm..."strike" back harder ? I know this blog reeks of racism, but I could not help putting it up...