Like former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar, chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar too felt that the International Cricket Council (ICC) should take some action against Match Referee Mike Procter after he failed in his duties during the Sydney Test in early January.“I think Procter failed in his duties,” the former Mumbai player said at a city function here. Recalling similar incidents, Vengsarkar added: “He bungled even in the Oval Test between Pakistan and England and in the West India-Australia match when Ramnaresh Sarwan and Glenn McGrath clashed.”The Andrew Symonds-Harbhajan Singh saga became an international issue after the Australians alleged that Harbhajan had made a racist remark against Symonds. However, the ICC commission found no evidence to that effect and Justice John Hansen absolved the Indian of the charge. Even before the press conference began, Vengsarkar quipped: “I hope you will enjoy the Twenty20 game and no one will use words like ‘Monkey’, ‘Big Monkey’ and ‘Maa ki’.”When Vengsarkar, who had scored more than 1000 runs against Australia, was asked about the Aussie habit of sledging, he said: “I was never provoked when I played cricket. Australians are known to be sledgers. They think people have a weak mind and they will force them to collapse by sledging. But it makes one stronger and they perform better. I think performance on the field is the best way to reply.”With Sreesanth being part of the one-day squad, Vengsarkar has a word of advice for the Kerala speedster. “I hope he controls his emotions on the field because he is a very fine bowler and I expect him to do well in Australia,” he said. But Vengsarkar is concerned about the injuries to top bowlers like Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, VRV Singh and Munaf Patel. “Injuries are a matter of concern for us right now,” Vengsarkar said. “Look at RP Singh, he is one of the best bowlers in India and he has become an integral part of the team. It was unfortunate that he got injured but the demand of international cricket is such that you need to perform all the time.”
