Spirit of the game more important, says Viswanath

He set the precedent by calling back Bob Taylor 31 years ago during the historic ‘Jubilee Test' in Mumbai and no wonder Gundappa Viswanath is proud about Mahendra Singh Dhoni's gesture of deciding to call back Ian Bell at Nottingham on Sunday.

“For me spirit of the game is of paramount importance rather than winning or losing a Test. Obviously, as captain you play hard to win. But there are times when it's your inner call that tells you what is right. I really appreciate Dhoni's decision to call Bell back,” Viswanath told pressmen over phone from Bangalore.

During the ‘Jubilee Test' back in February, 1980, England was in dire straits when Taylor was adjudged caught behind by umpire Jiban Dhan Ghosh off Kapil Dev's bowling.

However, captain Viswanath asked Taylor whether he had nicked the ball and the English batsman replied in the negative. The Indian captain then called him back. Viswanath, one of India's finest batsmen, was a bit hurt that while hailing Dhoni, very few people remembered his gesture.

“I didn't hear any of the commentators speak about that incident, neither did anyone refer to it,” the soft-spoken Viswanath seemed genuinely hurt.