S Sreesanth, who was at his belligerent best in the first two cricket one-dayers
against Australia before going uncannily quiet in the third match, mellowed
down due to criticism of his volatile temper, said Robin Uthappa.
"You guys have mellowed him down," Uthappa quipped at the press conference
ahead of the fourth ODI here.
"I think a lot has been made of it and he was naturally
mellowed down in Hyderabad. In fact, we had to talk to him and key him up,"
he said.
Sreesanth had altercations with Andrew Symonds and Matthew
Hayden in the second ODI at Kochi where he tried to run out Symonds when
the ball was dead.
The Kerala speedster then caught the batsman off his own bowling,
which was followed by yet another verbal duel.
Sreesanth, however, was not alone to vent his anger in the
tie and match referee Chris Broad later called both the captains and told them
to rein in their teammates.
Sreesanth, however, looked a complete different bowler who
just went about his job in the third match.
Uthappa insisted that the hosts had not overdone things in
the series. "Yes, we have been aggressive even though we mellowed down
a bit in the third match. But I feel it's hyped up a lot by the media. We know
where to draw the line and we respect the rules of the game too," he said.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting, however, has not been
amused by India's aggression and felt the hosts misconstrued the notion. "It's
not jumping up and down," Ponting wrote in his in an Australian newspaper.
Reacting to Ponting's comments, Uthappa quipped "they
are experienced in it while we are just late starters. Give us some time and
we'll definitely catch up with them.
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