Stop Sreesanth from becoming Akhtar: Chappell

Describing S Sreesanth as an "accident waiting to happen", former Australian captain Ian Chappell has urged the BCCI to discipline the Kerala pacer before he becomes another Shoaib Akhtar.

"If the BCCI needs any prompting on why they should discipline Sreesanth before he has a major crash, they only have to look at Pakistan's mishandling of Shoaib Akhtar in his early days," Chappell was quoted as saying in the 'Cricinfo'.

"The PCB has finally done what it should have a long time ago: brought the malcontent into line with a suspension and serious fine.

"If this had happened when Shoaib's erratic behaviour first started to undermine the Pakistan side then he may well have become what he should have been - a match-winning fast bowler - instead of what he has been, a serious disruption to team harmony."

Chappell said if Sreesanth continued with his aggressive ways one day he would be in serious trouble and the BCCI needed to control the bowler. "Back when I was playing, whenever a fiery red sports car would go whizzing past our team's more sedate mode of transport, the former Australian wrist-spinner Johnny Martin would say, "there goes an accident waiting to happen".

"Currently, Sreesanth appears to be driving a bright red V12 with mag wheels, twin carburettors and the latest E gearshift. He's already had a couple of minor scrapes but hasn't backed off the throttle, and if he continues down this bumpy road he's headed for a major catastrophe.

"The BCCI should do him a favour and take away his keys; in other words, suspend him for a meaningful period. Then he'll have time to think about his erratic behaviour and will hopefully realize he is wasting his undoubted talent by expending energy on things that won't help his team win," Chappell said. Chappell also advocated disciplinary action for the players who had initiated the process of countering the Aussies with aggressive body language. "If the BCCI does shift into disciplinary gear, they should also severely reprimand the person or persons who dreamt up the flawed tactic of India taking the Australians on at their own game.

"The first-class game in Australia is highly competitive and players regularly indulge in one-upmanship and the better ones thrive in this atmosphere. If the Australians wanted to do a Brer rabbit on India, they would have said: "Please don't intimidate us verbally."