India and Australia kept their promise of showing sportsman spirit on the opening day of the third cricket Test at the WACA ground here on Wednesday.
PERTH: Leaving the acrimonious Sydney Test behind, India and Australia kept their promise of showing sportsman spirit on the opening day of the third cricket Test at the WACA ground here on Wednesday.
The Sydney Test was replete with controversies including serious umpiring errors, allegations of racial abuse against Harbhajan Singh and debatable catch appeals by the hosts.
The unpleasant episodes on the field had prompted Indian captain Anil Kumble to declare that only one team played the game in true spirit.
However, after the intervention of ICC-appointed facilitator Ranjan Madugalle, both Kumble and Ricky Ponting had decided to carry on the series in good spirit.
The pledge made by the captains was shown on the field on Wednesday as players of both the sides tried to maintain camaraderie among themselves though minor incidents due to competitive spill-over were also witnessed.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid, who scored a well-knit 93, gave a thumbs up to the Australian behaviour.
"They played it tough like they usually do. They ran in hard right through the day. They were competitive but it was played in very good spirit," Dravid said.
Dravid, however, admitted that he spoke to umpires Asad Rauf and Billy Bowden as the Aussie bowlers were rushing through their overs to make up for the slow over-rate.
"I was not getting frustrated with it. I was just trying to make my point that I needed a bit of time to settle in.
"They were coming in quickly. After that they slowed it down a bit and gave us just enough time to look up, so it's not an issue," he said.
Apart from one odd show of frustration from Andrew Symonds when an lbw appeal against Sachin Tendulkar was turned down, the Aussies displayed maturity in their behaviour.
Paceman Shaun Tait even apologised to Tendulkar after a caught behind appeal when the ball had deflected off the batsman's elbow.
Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee also said that the day went off very well for the teams.
"It definitely has been the case today. It was played in the right spirit. Today was a lot of fun, there was a few jokes cracked out there, both teams were laughing. It was hard, tough cricket and that's what cricket is all about," he said.
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