mid-day editorial: No dramas in Dharamsala, please

Although Australia's cricket captain Steven Smith insists this edition of the Border-Gavaskar series is played in the right spirit, he doesn't have too many backers. The controversy over Smith looking towards the dressing room for a Decision Review System-related clue in the second Test at Bangalore did not end when the teams reached Ranchi for the third game. There was a fair share of unpleasant sights there as well.

Any suggestions that the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala will be incident-free, are overly optimistic. India and Australia have a history. There were examples of hot heads even three decades ago - in the epic 1986 Tied Test at Chennai - but pundits reckon there is a layer of hate being injected into the current battles. If true, these are worrying signs indeed, because there is no place for even a trace of hate in sports.

It appears both teams are nearing boiling point. The threat of harsh words being converted into physical reactions looms large, and the various policemen who guard the game cannot be passive. For starters, the match referee and on-field umpires should come down heavily on the chatter. There is no harm in encouragement to teammates being audible, but any attempt to abuse or ridicule opponents should result in bans and nothing else.

The administrators cannot be spared of responsibility. At the moment, Australia have committed the first sin in this regard with Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland saying on radio, albeit in a lighter vein, that he's not sure if Virat Kohli can spell the word 'sorry'. Sutherland will do well to come up with an apology or explanation for insulting an international captain. He has set a bad example, and in such a scenario, we can't expect much good from his country's players.