By IANS
Canberra : India captain Anil Kumble revealed Wednesday that Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting turned down his request not to press charges of alleged racism against off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
“I did make a request actually when that incident happened on that particular day,” said Kumble after landing here for the two-day practice match starting Thursday.
“His response was it had already been reported. Having played cricket for this long, I knew such an allegation would definitely spiral into what it has now. I anticipated that,” he added.
“And I envisaged that it would spiral into a larger issue. So that was the only reason. There was a hearing and now we’ve made an appeal. (But) I’m sure things will be sorted out now.”
However, Kumble didn’t think the incidents would affect the relationships between the two captains during the third Test in Perth, which starts Jan 16.
“It’s important that Ricky and I got together and spoke about it and then get together and address it,” he said.