Criticism mellowed down Sreesanth in Hyderabad: Uthappa

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." PTI