Spiritual happenings
Idols in several
temples in India, started drinking milk. A few days later came news reports of
another miracle: the sea, near the seashore at Mahim in Mumbai, had started
yielding sweet water instead of the usual salty water. Throngs of people
collected to witness these miracles.
The western world,
known for its belief in science and scientific explanations for miracles, as if
loath to be left out, reported its own miracles. First, in Britain, a sonography
done on a pregnant woman resulted in a picture of the baby in its mother’s womb
but also a face similar to that of Lord Jesus Christ hovering above it. The
expecting parents were ecstatic that God was watching over the well-being of the
yet to be born child. Second, in California, a blob of chocolate, in a
chocolate-making factory that, accidentally spilled out of one vessel, is
reported to have taken the shape of the Mother Mary with an Infant Jesus in her
arms. The factory workers reverently put the figure in a glass case and turned
it into a shrine.
Vegetables and fruits
resembling Gods are reported several times by newspapers. Truth is indeed
stranger than fiction. It is possible that for each such case there exists a
rational and scientific explanation. However in these troubled times, with
terrorism increasing the uncertainties of life, people appear to find solace in
believing that these happenings are miracles.
Forfeited
It has the dubious
distinction of being the first cricket Test match to be forfeited. In the fourth
Test against England, Pakistan refused to take the field after Umpires Darell
Hair and Billy Doctrove penalized them five runs, for allegedly tampering with
the ball. The Pakistani team was aggrieved with the decision and in protest,
after tea, remained in their dressing room. After some time the Umpires removed
the bails and thus Pakistan forfeited the first Test match in the history of
Test cricket.
Cricket is a changed
game from the gentleman’s game that it was in the past. Big money, derived
mainly from advertising revenue, has made it a whole new ball game. Along with
the money, advances in technology have brought in far reaching changes. These
have reduced the "glorious uncertainties" that ruled the game in the past. TV
cameras at every possible angle and location, including the stumps have ensured
a better chance of the players getting a correct verdict for boundaries,
run-outs, stumpings and leg-before. The addition of the third umpire watching
the game in the pavilion and giving decisions remotely is now a common feature.
It is these very
technological changes that were used by the Pakistani Team’s Captain Inzamam to
defend against the ball-tampering charge. His argument was simple, with so many
cameras pointing at the field, there was no recorded evidence of tampering of
the ball. The Team also roped in former England Test-player and a respected
cricketer, Geoff Boycott, as expert witness. He opined that the ball was not
tampered with at all and is reported to have said, "That’s a good ball, not just
a playable ball". The other expert fielded by the Pakistani Team Management was
Channel Five TV analyst Simon Hughes, who is well-known for his expertise on the
condition of cricket balls. He very dramatically produced two other balls played
for similar number of overs in other matches. This appears to have clinched the
matter and the Referee absolved the Pakistan Team from the ball-tampering
charge. The Captain was given a four match ban penalty as the ICC found him
guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, over his team’s refusal to continue
to play in the match. The Captain is reported to have taken the ban in the right
spirit, mainly on account of being cleared of the first more serious charge.
