`Let's see if you can hit me'

Everybody's talking about sledging these days. In recent times Dennis Lillee, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly have all commented on the issue. All of them have a point.

Sledging has been happening in cricket for a long time. It has become a concern now because TV viewers and listeners can hear what players are saying via stump microphones. This has resulted in the recent past in some players getting disciplined - such as Glenn McGrath, Shahid Afridi and Darren Lehmann. Even I was incorrectly accused during the 2003 World Cup of wrongful sledging, although everyone knows I am not a particularly vociferous person on the field.

A most amazing incident happened in grade (club) cricket in Australia in March, when the batsmen walked off after incessant sledging by the opposing fielders and bowlers.

Many people say sledging is against the spirit of cricket. In my mind, not all sledging is bad. Most things in the world have both a negative and a positive side to them. That's just the case with sledging.

Negative sledging, I would say, falls into the category of Abuses and Insults; positive sledging consists of Challenges and Humour. There is, of course, a fine line between insult and humour, and it's often a matter of perception.

Abuses and Insults are against the spirit of the game. They usually begin when despite trying their hardest, players are not getting what they want. They then lose their composure, become desperate and resort to negative sledging by using foul and insulting language. They need to be reined in, and that responsibility falls first on the captain. The onus for determining when the limit has been crossed falls on the match referee.

Challenges and Humour, on the other hand, are an affable part of the game. Basit Ali once told me that when he used to go into bat in the initial few matches of his career, Javed Miandad used to ask him to dare the fast bowlers by saying, "Let's see if you can hit me." This is like throwing a challenge to the opponent and is good gamesmanship. In boxing, we all know how Muhammad Ali is still admired worldwide for similar behaviour in the ring. Glaring and making unpleasant faces towards the opponents is all part of the aggressiveness in the field and is not unconstructive, as long as no bad words are exchanged.

Qasim Umer indulged in some hilarious sledging against West Indies way back in the semi-final of the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket in Melbourne in 1985, when he started to make faces similar to Malcolm Marshall and Winston Davis. He even held out his bat as if he was holding a gun. The World Cup of 1992 will always be remembered for Pakistan's win in the final against England - and Javed Miandad jumping up and down against India after the consistent chattering of their wicketkeeper, Kiran More.

These days when people talk of sledging Australia come immediately to mind. Let us, thus, examine sledging and nationality. The West Indians, considered the friendliest cricket team, never sledge. On the field they play aggressive cricket, talk among themselves and buck up each other, but they rarely get entangled in heated exchanges with their opponents. They rarely lose their composure - though they have done so in the past because of bad umpiring, which is nevertheless not reason enough.

For Australia, on the other hand, sledging has been a part of their cricketing folklore - as epitomised by Yabba, a person sitting near the boundary at Sydney throwing encouragements, challenges and insults to players. Australian players on the field have now adopted the role of Yabba. As long as the modern-day Yabba does not use ugly language and is only sending out healthy challenges, it should be fine. In fact, it is good for the game, and adds to its competitiveness.

The most popular sport on this planet is soccer. Nobody tries to ban sledging and body contact in this sport. In cricket, with the batsman separated by 22 yards, body contact is irrelevant and undesirable. But positive sledging increases the thrill of the game - just as it does in soccer.

As a player, one needs to be mentally tough and able to adapt to the prevailing sports environment. And the ultimate weapon to counter sledging is one's cricketing skill. VVS Laxman's exquisite 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001 was one example of this, as was Shoaib Akhtar's 5 for 25 at Brisbane in 2002. At the end of the day, it should all come down to the cricket.