India's Test tour of Australia threatens to spiral out of control, with two players involved in a heated confrontation on field and another taking aim at selectors.
As the tourists found themselves on the verge of defeat in Perth, fast bowler Ishant Sharma and substitute fieldsman Ravindra Jadeja were involved in a heated on-field confrontation on a rugged fourth afternoon on Monday.
Ishant Sharma.Credit:AAP
The two men needed to be separated by fast bowler Mohammed Shami – who later took aim at selectors for not picking a specialist spinner – and another teammate in the second session at Optus Stadium.
Channel Seven cameras captured the incident, which involved finger pointing and lasted for about 90 seconds. It came when Nathan Lyon was hit in the helmet while batting and play had stopped.
Sharma and Jadeja raged in their native Hindi language, which commentator Tim Lane said was too "colourful" to broadcast.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the two men were clearly at loggerheads.
"Who knows what they are talking about but it does seem pretty animated. There was lots of finger pointing. They were separated on a couple of occasions," he said.
"They came back together again late and then Shami gets involved. He was just waiting at the top of his mark waiting to bowl. Things have, obviously, got a little bit heated between these two.
"Remember, Jadeja is just the substitute fieldsman. Ishant, probably in the middle of a bowling spell, might have wanted him at mid off or mid on – who knows what it was.
"Not just between Australia and India, but also looks like a little bit on in-fighting between the Indians."
Former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra said "in fighting" may be too strong a word but admitted the spat had been "animated".
"When you have people in a group, there will be times when you have a difference of opinions," he said.
Shami also had concerns of his own, and publicly disagreed with India's decision not to play a frontline spinner.
Master spinner Ravi Ashwin was ruled out of the Perth Test because of an abdominal strain, prompting the tourists to field four specialist quicks without a frontline spinner for only the third time in their Test history. Jadeja, an accomplished left-arm spinner with 185 wickets in 39 Tests, could have been drafted in.
"The team management makes these decisions. We can’t do anything about it. We had one spinner who didn’t bowl badly," Shami said.
"If you ask me, I feel there should have been a spinner, but these things depend on your management."
Young all-rounder Hanuma Vihari claimed two first-innings wickets but the tourists missed a gold-plated spinner in Australia's second innings, particularly when tailenders Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood became difficult to dislodge.
Jadeja's role in the Test has also raised eyebrows, for he has spent a significant amount of time on the field as a substitute despite the tourists having no injuries.
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