Who will control Sreesanth?

It is common knowledge that young fast bowlers are aggressive by nature but when you see our own fast bowler S Sreesanth's antics one gets the impression that he is more interested in playing to the gallery.

There have been instances in the past where fast bowlers have almost come to blows with the rival batsmen (who can forget the Dennis Lillee-Javid Miandad spat) on the field. Luckily none of the Indian bowler have been accused of a major showdown so far even though Sreesanth bumping into England captain Michael Vaughan during the recent series could have triggered off ugly scenes had Vaughan reacted.

Agreed that Sreesanth is probably the fastest of the Indian bowlers right now and an important link in our bowling department but if he continues to put unnecessary pressure on the umpires and rival batsmen, he might be banned for three to four matches, which India can ill afford, especially with two important home series(against Australia and Pakistan) just round the corner.

It would be wise, for the team as well as for himself, if a bowler of his caliber sticks to getting as many wickets as possible and cementing his place in Indian team than try and play to the gallery.

The spectators always love to watch an Indian fast bowler show his aggression with his bowling and not with intimidation, as most of his reactions are not instantaneous.

When he deliberately bumped into Vaughan, he was not trying to stop the batsmen from stealing a single as there was no attempt from the English batsmen to go for the run. In fact he was walking back to his bowling mark when he suddenly decided to make his presence felt by bumping into the rival batsmen.

Even in the Twenty20 World Cup against Australia, he was over doing his appealing stuff. He crossed all limits when started banging the turf with his hands, as an after thought, after he got rid off Matthew Hayden, which was unnecessary. He should consider himself lucky for not getting penalized more than 25 per cent of his match fees.

In fact, India's new captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has gone on records saying that it is time for Sreesanth to draw a line some where as he was not at all amused with his antics.

Being the captain of the side, Dhoni, will have his task cutout as he has to concentrate on the match apart from doing his job behind the wicket. If players like Sreesanth start throwing tantrums then the skipper's life will become a living hell.

Captaining India is not a simple task. He will be needing his players' full cooperation and even if one player misbehaves or antagonizes the umpires, than his concentration will be disturbed resulting in wrong decisions, which could put a full stop to India's ambitions.

So hot-blooded youngsters like Sreesanth will be doing a big favor to the team by playing the gentleman's game in a gentlemanly manner as every player will have a big part to play in the final.

Let's hope better sense prevails at least for the sake of the team.