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Australia tour on, but conditionally: BCCI

By IANS

New Delhi : The Indian team’s controversy-ridden Australia tour will continue conditionally even as the cricket board Tuesday threw its weight behind Harbhajan Singh on the issue of racial charge made against him by an Australian player.

At an emergency meeting of the board’s working committee here, the committee members gave full authority to board president Sharad Pawar to get the off-spinner “cleared of the obnoxious and baseless accusation” by Andrew Symonds during the second Test in Sydney last week.

In a carefully and cleverly drafted press statement, which also praised the role played by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Cricket Australia (CA), the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) also asked the yet-to-be-appointed ICC appeals commissioner to hear Harbhajan’s appeal and “expeditiously dispose” it off.

“ICC has clarified to the Board [BCCI] that Harbhajan could play till final disposal of the appeal. This is only an interim arrangement. BCCI is of the categorical view that the matter will have to be finally resolved and the unfair allegation against an Indian player be set aside/withdrawn,” BCCI treasurer N. Srinivasan read from the statement.

Srinivasan, however, declined to answer any questions from the 150-plus media persons late in the evening, saying that the issue was sensitive and had legal implications.

Interestingly, the statement did not mention anything about the wrong umpiring decisions – the other issue that cropped up during India’s 122-run defeat that gave Australia a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

The tour plunged into uncertainty after umpires Steve Bucknor of the West Indies and Mark Benson of England gave several wrong decisions, as borne out by slow motion television replays, which led to a furore not just in India but in most parts of the cricketing world.

The two issues, punishing Harbhajan and poor umpiring, snowballed into a major controversy Monday with the BCCI formally asking the ICC to rescind Harbhajan’s ban and remove the two umpires from the last two Tests.

The ICC, sensing the possible implications of the issue, Tuesday removed Bucknor from the third Test starting in Perth Jan 16 and replaced him with New Zealander Billy Bowden. Pakistan’s Asad Rauf, the second on-field umpire, remains unchanged.

Bowden and Rauf will umpire, as per the original appointment, the fourth and final Test starting in Adelaide Jan 24.

At the emergency working committee meeting, the house appreciated the steps taken by the BCCI so far on the issues and also “authorised” Pawar to deal with them as he deemed fit.

“The working committee fully and unequivocally endorsed the stand taken by the President and concerned officials with respect to the quality of umpiring and totally uncalled for, unjustified and patently illegal ban imposed on Harbhajan by the match referee [Mike Proctor],” said the statement.

“It further authorised the president [Pawar] to take all possible steps at his command and deploy all human and material resources available, to get the player cleared of the obnoxious and baseless accusation.”

The committee also empowered Pawar and the other BCCI office bearers to “take all appropriate decisions and exercise all available options” in dealing with the situation emerging during the course of the upcoming hearing.

“The committee took note of all relevant circumstances and developments and decided that the Indian team tour to Australia should continue for the present. The BCCI will review the tour and all other developments continuously,” it read.

“The BCCI will request the ICC appeals commissioner, appointed to hear Harbhajan’s appeal to expeditiously dispose of the appeal in terms of Regulation H-11 (e) of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials.”

Neither did the BCCI statement mentioned who the appeals commissioner was, nor has the ICC said anything to this effect so far.

Earlier, Pawar had instructed the Anil Kumble-led team to stay put in Sydney, and not proceed to Canberra for a two-day match, till further orders. But the BCCI officials kept mum on when the team would leave for Canberra.