West Indies captain Brian Lara has disclosed that he got agitated during the drama involving Mahendra Singh Dhoni's controversial dismissal as he felt the spirit of the game was not being upheld.
"There were 24 big men at the ground and they could not come to a decision. I thought the spirit of the game was not being kept. We all make mistakes but at the end of the day we all want to uphold the spirit of the game," Lara said.
- Also read: Lara told Dhoni to walk off
Dhoni's dismissal in controversial circumstances on the fourth day's play was marked by an angry reaction from Lara, who snatched the ball from umpire Asad Rauf before asking the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to accept the fielder's word and walk off.
Lara justified his suggestion to Dhoni to walk off by stating that if the umpires were not able to reach at a decision, the players should be able to resolve the matter.
"At the end of the day, it is a sport we are playing. We need to be sportsmen. If umpires are not able to take a decision, we as players should be able to resolve the matter. That's why I was disappointed," Test cricket's highest run maker said.
However, Lara did not want to be too critical of the umpires.
"I spoke to Rahul [Dravid] and the two umpires and we sorted it out. I don't want to be critical of umpires. We all want them to be perfect but sometimes when you are watching the no-ball, ensuring that players are not running on the pitch and all those sort of things, it is not an easy job.
"I would not want to be an umpire, really. It is a tough job. We need to support them."
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