Umpires Mark Benson of Britain (right) and Steve Bucknor of the West Indies shake hands at the end of the second Test between India and Australia in Sydney on Sunday.
— Reuters photo |
Sydney, January 6
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was tonight banned for
three Tests after ICC match referee Mike Procter upheld the Australian
charge that he had racially abused their all-rounder Andrew Symonds, a
decision against which the Indian team will appeal within 24
hours.
Meanwhile, the Indian team tonight ruled out calling off the
rest of the tour of Australia but demanded that the two umpires whose
wrong decisions largely contributed to India’s defeat in the second
Test should not officiate in the remaining two Tests.
Team manager
Chetan Chauhan told a press conference that there was no question of
calling off the tour despite what has happened during the course of the
day — the umpiring blunders and the ban on Harbhajan.
Earlier,
Procter gave a marathon six-and-a-half-hour hearing to Harbhajan, who
denied the charge and was supported by skipper Anil Kumble, Sachin
Tendulkar, manager Chetan Chauhan and media manager MV Sridhar during
the deliberations.
Procter also heard Symonds, who was backed by
Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden,
Michael Clarke along with team manager Steve Bernard, who attended the
hearing to testify against the Indian spinner.
After the hearing, which
went beyond 2 am (local time), informed sources said the three-Test ban had been slapped on Harbhajan, who is fully backed by the BCCI and the team. The appeal will be made to the Commissioner of Appeals and pending the appeal, the off-spinner can continue to play.
Meanwhile, the Indians have also filed a complaint against Australian spinner Brad Hogg for using abusive language during the second Test.
The Indian team lodged the complaint against Hogg during the hearing, giving a new twist to the simmering feud between the two sides.
BCCI officials promptly said they would appeal against the ban.
Board vice-president Rajiv Shukla said in New Delhi they had not yet received any communication from the International Cricket Council regarding the ban.
“Nothing has been communicated to us yet. When it is confirmed, we will appeal against the ban within 24 hours. Harbhajan will appeal and the BCCI will also appeal,” Shukla said.
BCCI’s chief administrative manager Ratnakar Shetty said: “There was no evidence against Harbhajan, so I don’t know how they could arrive at such a conclusion.”
Harbhajan was charged under rule 3.3 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct that deals with using language or gestures that insults a person on the basis of race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. He vehemently denied saying anything racial during the altercation.
On-field umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson had gone on record as saying that they had not heard anything offensive being said.
— PTI
