WHAT happens on the ground, should remain on the ground. Lalchand Rajput, India's acting coach in the 2007-08 series in Australia, and Chetan Chauhan, manager on the same tour, took the opportunity to emphasise this unwritten rule in cricket to the Australian team who arrived here on Monday for another series against India.

Ever since the unsavoury incidents of the last Border-Gavaskar series Down Under, it is natural that the first questions to the Australian and Indian players on their forthcoming series have been on the 'spirit of the game'.

Ricky Ponting had to answer them before his flight to India and Brett Lee's media interaction in Jaipur yesterday started with a grilling on the same subject.

Overboard

Before the teams launch themselves into another battle, Rajput and Chauhan analysed what went wrong the last time. Being part of the team management, they were in the thick of the controversy triggered by Andrew Symonds' claim that Harbhajan Singh had racially abused him during the second Test in Sydney.

"They started it and then we decided to give it back, and it became bigger. They went too far by lodging a complaint. In cricket, whatever happens on the field should be left on the field. They started it and went overboard," claimed Rajput.

Chauhan echoed Rajput's sentiments. "As far as India were concerned, we were focusing on cricket. It was some people in the Australian team who needlessly tried to instigate this controversy about Harbhajan. It reached a stage where it was affecting relations between the two teams. It was unnecessary," said Chauhan.

Wrong focus

The difference in approach to the controversy, Rajput and Chauhan said, reflected in the performances of the teams post the disturbance. "We kept it aside and moved on," said Rajput.

"We were aware that it could become a major issue, one which would be very difficult to control. We tried to underplay it and focused on our game and it turned out to be very good for us. We never took our focus off the game while some of their players got too involved with this particular episode. As a result, the performance of their team went down," Chauhan added.

The results showed India were charged up by the controversy. But Rajput said playing for revenge this time can only backfire. "Whatever has happened has happened. If you think of revenge, your focus will shift," said Rajput.

"We will be motivated but I will not say Kumble's men will be playing for revenge. They would like to prove a point to the Australian team that they are a better side," said Chauhan.

Rajput believed that the players will be wiser from the experience. "The players are aware that there is a line which cannot be crossed. There will be a lot of verbal exchanges on the ground but one should not over-react.

That does not mean that if someone sledges you, you put your head down. Give it back but don't cross the line," he reiterated.

One hopes the lessons will be well taken and this series will be remembered for tough, but fair cricket.