Sreesanth's Antics

Harbhajan's ban is definitely justified and fitting but there was niggling doubt that there was more to the story and Sreesanth the guy who growls and snarls after every ball with or without merit, usually more of the latter, was getting away with something.
Then this article by Anil Dharker caught my eye and it really showed that Sreesanth was no innocent victim that he tried to portray himself as by crying on the field.

In the Mumbai Indians-Punjab match there was clear evidence that the Kerala fast bowler, whose bark is always worse than his bite, had abused the Mumbai team right through its innings, including its captain Harbhajan Singh. We didn’t need secret cameras to see it, everyone could see Sree Santh snarl like a rabid dog again and again hurling four-letter words at Bhajji as well as Musavir Khote, the last Mumbai man out even as he walked back to the pavilion."

Playing for the India A side in the Salve Challenger Trophy, he first sledged Virender Sehwag who had just hit him for four. “You hit like this only in domestic matches. How about some runs in international cricket?” An obvious taunt at a then out-of-form batsman.
A few overs later he had the temerity to go down the pitch and glare even at Sachin Tendulkar after beating him outside the off-stump. The next ball Tendulkar did what he does best: let his bat do the talking by hitting the bowler over his head for a six. But Tendulkar didn’t stop at that. He went up to Sreesanth and said, “Never ever come this close to me again.”

That is why you can believe that no one in the Indian team likes Sree Santh. That is why even the elder statesman of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble are said to keep him at arm’s length once they are off the field and that is why even the young M S Dhoni, the charismatic limited overs captain had this to say in a column about the recent incident: “Before issuing any punishment, I hope the authorities check the actual sequence of events rather than just what the footage shows. It’s a lot like what happened between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi. What Zidane did was wrong, but Materazzi also was not completely in the right.”

If Dhoni, Tendu and Dravid have this opinion about Sreesanth then there is no way I want him representing India in cricket. First he is not that good that he goes to rile up players like Hayden and Symonds. Second, even if he was good, his behaviour against local players in IPL just puts me off. It was all fine and well the first time he danced on the pitch after hitting Nel for a six, that was good stuff but now set an example, drop him from the team. We need aggressive players on the Indian team but that of the mindset of Dhoni and not the stupid-aggressive type of Sreesanth.

Full article: A slap for Sree Santh and Engineer too?