Sledging in Cricket

Well, the final between India and Australia is stil acouple fo days away and we have Aussies at their old game of sledging again. Bhajji or Harbhajan is an "obnoxious weed" if they are to be believed and little bit to "unsettle' the other team is or its players is O.K. But one retaliatory word from the other side- kid Ishant for instance- is enough to flare up Ponting and his Symonds with charges of racial abuse with umpires-third fourth or whatever willing to impose fines, albeit on Indian players only. Is this the same Cricket, which was lauded as a gentlemen's game? Why does sledging become in integral part of it only in Australia? Are Indians prone to overreact or the Australians in need to be disciplined? Or is it just a storm in a tea-cup to raise the temperature a little and get spectators on the field?