Cricket: India v Australia: Dravid Fuels Row As India Feel the Heat

David Shepherd may be 63, but yesterday he showed all the agility of a boxing referee. The English umpire used his ample frame to step smartly between India's acting captain Rahul Dravid and the Australian batsman Justin Langer as they waved angry fingers at each other here on the third day of the third Test.

It was the closest the game came to an interesting contest in the torpor of a warm afternoon as Australia consolidated their considerable advantage.

The incident was out of keeping in a series that has been played in an excellent spirit and it is unlikely any action will be taken against the players, although Langer was later reprimanded by his own team management for slow scoring.

It had begun when Langer exchanged words with Mohammad Kaif when the batsman took exception to the fielder's appeal from cover for lbw. Dravid walked down the pitch from his usual position at first slip apparently intent on defusing the situation but instead appeared to hurl a can of petrol on the flames.

India do not need any help when it comes to picking a fight, for they have enough skirmishes going on inside their own camp.

Yesterday the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Rajsingh Dungarpur, attacked India's captain Sourav Ganguly, who is not playing in the match, for his criticism of the pitch.

Dungarpur also criticised the decision to keep faith with the wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, whose work behind the stumps has been abysmal in this series. "It's a very sad state of affairs that he has not been replaced," he said.

The former selector Kirti Azad has said that politics within the selection committee are the reason for Patel's prolonged presence in the side. He said that he and Syed Kirmani, the former chairman of selectors, had proposed the names of other keepers but were constantly outvoted. Azad added that Kiran More, the West Zone selector, told Kirmani that he did not have the credentials to judge Patel who, according to local cricket writers, has fluffed 23 chances in 19 Tests (not counting half-chances) which have cost 675 runs. Kirmani and More are both former Test wicketkeepers.

It was also rumoured yesterday morning that Ganguly, whose job is under pressure and not only because he's a Patel supporter, would not play in the final Test as he felt the series was slipping away and he wanted to distance himself from the calamity.

Ganguly's non-appearance next week was made more likely by a statement on the player's health. "Medical investigations have revealed intra-articular pathology of the right hip joint noted by increased synovial fluid accumulation." Precisely.

As for the cricket, Australia lead by 415 with eight second-innings wickets and two days left, but the prospect of an overnight declaration never entered Adam Gilchrist's head at the end of play last night.

Australia closed on 202 for three, after winning a first-innings advantage of 213, but Gilchrist may decide to bat on into this afternoon, when the lead should be somewhere between 500 and 600.

Australia have had the willing help of the local groundsman, who produced a grassy pitch that suits tall fast bowlers, of which Australia have three and India none.

India resumed on 146 for five and lasted 70 minutes before they were bowled out for 185, with Jason Gillespie taking five for 56. Australia piled on the runs in the afternoon with Simon Katich, who looked stone cold lbw before he had scored, making 99.