***
Interestingly, though Bedi says he never faced a racial insult all his life, he had his contract with Northamptonshire terminated after accusing England's John Lever of using Vaseline on the ball. His action, often called the "purest" by experts, was also questioned. As Bedi recounts it, "You can't call a white man a cheat and get away with it."
Shane Warne, that most aggressive of 'appealers', is not on the list for intimidating umpires. Michael Slater, who rained abuse on Rahul Dravid in Mumbai in 2001, was punished only for making a public comment on the incident. Glenn McGrath (and Ramnaresh Sarwan) were not even warned for that ugly incident at Antigua. Are people of colour more prone to err, or are the referees biased against them?
Former Indian captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi has another theory—the Aussies are clever enough not to get caught in the act. "They do it all the time but never get caught. We haven't yet understood how they do it," he says. "And why do they needle Harbhajan, and not Dravid or Tendulkar? They know who will react!" Pataudi says that while there might be an odd referee or two who's not fair, you can't make a sweeping judgement against the whole panel.
Mike Brearley, the philosopher-cricketer, doesn't rule out the possibility of people becoming too sensitive, consequently responding in "ridiculous ways" to some good-natured humour or ribbing. Take the story that Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara narrated on a website. "We had an instance with one of our fast bowlers, Ruchira Perera, who was bowling at England's Craig White. Perera was hit for a couple of fours and said, 'Bloody White, I'm going to kill you.' He was hauled up before the match referee and his explanation was: 'I only called him by his name...Craig White!'."
Brearley, however, insists racism must be stamped out of the game. "Along with ethnic and religious discrimination, it is something to which people are very sensitive," he says. "So there are good reasons for being particularly forthright in attacks on it."
Pataudi has a radical idea, something sledgers of the world would likely unite to oppose. "The fielders should not be allowed to say anything in the hearing of the batsman," he declares. "It's a sport. Shut up and get on with it. If a team tries to gain an unfair advantage by sledging, it must not be allowed." Rather radical, and perhaps too much so. It might make the sport sterile, but there won't be any race rows at least.
