By IANS
Sydney/New Delhi : Battle lines were drawn Monday as India sought the axing of the three-Test ban slapped on off spinner Harbhajan Singh after his alleged racist abuse against Australian Andrew Symonds and asked the Indians not to leave Sydney for Canberra for the next match.
The Indian cricket board also lodged a complaint that Australian spinner Brad Hogg had used abusive language against Indian captain Anil Kumble. Simultaneously, it demanded that umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson be kept out of the remainder of the series, accusing them of giving erroneous decisions that cost India the second Test.
Both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team management were furious over the way the entire hearing against Harbhajan alias Bhajji was held by South African match referee Mike Procter.
The BCCI was livid that while Harbhajan was banned from playing the next three Test matches on the strength of what Australian players Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden said, no weight was given to the statement of Sachin Tendulkar, the man closest to Friday’s drama between the bowler and Symonds.
It is the worst showdown between India and Australia in cricketing history.
In an unusually strong statement, the BCCI warned that the happenings at Sydney were of “great concern as some of these can have a far-reaching impact on international cricket.
“The (BCCI) does not accept the findings of the match referee and has decided to challenge the unfair decision to suspend Harbhajan as it deems it patently unfair…
“For the Indian board anti-racial stance is an article of faith as it is for the entire nation, which fought the apartheid policies. The board has always fought the racist sledging of players and spectators and it will continue to do so.”
BCCI president Sharad Pawar, who is also India’s agriculture minister, and his colleagues in the board spoke to other ICC directors in a bid to sort out the problem. Pawar also telephoned Kumble and assured the team of the board’s full backing.
The ICC has agreed to suspend the ban pending BCCI’s appeal against it.
Making a brief statement after board officials met at Pawar’s residence, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla said a letter has been written to the ICC not to post West Indies’ Bucknor and England’s Benson, the umpires who officiated in the controversial Sydney Test, in any further matches involving India.
Shukla made it clear that while the game of cricket was paramount, so too was the honour of the Indian team.
Even as many fans in cricket-crazy India demanded that the Australian tour be called off, the BCCI asked the team not to move out of the hotel in Sydney till further orders. This prompted speculation that the tour could end abruptly.
In Sydney, where India lost the second Test by 122 runs Sunday, the cricket team delayed its departure to Canberra in order to complete the formalities regarding the appeal against the ban on Harbhajan.
Shukla said the Indians had complained against Hogg’s conduct. “The team management has lodged a complaint. Hogg used abusive language against Kumble on the (Sydney Cricket) ground.”
It was unclear when the Indians would leave for the Australian capital where they are to play a two-day game against Australia Cricketers Territory (ACT) XI beginning Thursday.
The Indian team had got into the bus to leave for the airport in the morning but after almost two hours they got off and returned to their hotel rooms. The team could leave for Canberra Tuesday.
“There is a lot of paperwork required and we need to be proper in our appeal. Hence we are delaying our departure to Sydney,” media manager M.V. Sridhar said in Sydney.
Legendry Australian captain Steve Waugh, whose world record of 16 consecutive Test wins was equalled by his successor Ricky Ponting Sunday, said the eventful Test match would probably be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
He warned that the row had the potential to affect relations between India and Australia.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar accused the Australian team of hypocrisy. “Is it only when the Australians give it to somebody that what happens on the field stays on the field?” he asked. “When they get it, has it got to be reported? It doesn’t stay on the field.”