A horrific day of cricket not only saw a Test match being snatched from India because of poor umpiring, but one of their front-line players being banned for three matches for an alleged racial slur that was not proved conclusively.
Match referee Mike Procter announced that Harbhajan had indeed been racist in his remarks to Andrew Symonds when there was apparently no one to corroborate the accusation except for other Aussie players. The umpires had not heard anything and the television cameras and microphones had picked nothing. However, Procter decided not to give the benefit of doubt to the accused when it was one man's word against the other's word.
"I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Harbhajan Singh directed that word (racist remark, probably monkey) at Andrew Syonds and… meant it to offend on the basis of Symonds' race or ethnic origin (West Indian), a release from Procter said.
It was a double-whammy for the Indian team no doubt, the frustration of conceding an unassailable 2-0 lead to the Aussies having not gone down well with the team as umpires Steve Bucknor, Mark Benson and Oxenford put paid to their best chance of winning a Test match in the series. The poor officiating ruined the series which could well have stood at 1-1 after two matches.
On the Indian cricket Board's request, the ICC has agreed not to post Bucknor in the next match, but the damage has already been done. Also, one has to wait and see what comes of the appeal against the ban on Harbhajan, which might just be revoked in a compromise situation.
But what does India stand to gain from this all, even if Harbhajan's ban is revoked? They have not been able to stop the Aussie winning trail and they next play at Perth, where they hardly stand a chance of pulling it off because of the bouncy pitches there.
The Indian team management was told to continue with the tour despite the players losing their morale, just like the Aussies would have wanted. But are Australia calling the shots at the ICC so much that India are left at the mercy of incompetent officials?
The BCCI secretary, Niranjan Shah, said that "the tour will go on and we'll give the team every possible support," but the cricket Board will have to back its word by action. Taking things lying down is not the way forward
If Symonds's accusation was taken so seriously, why was not the Indian team's complaint that Brad Hogg had called Indian captain Anil Kumble a b*****d? And also, did they consider whether Symonds had instigated Harbhajan to say some words, if at all he did? Does it all mean that the ICC officials are so very sure that the Aussies will not play dirty at any point in time? If they are, they surely are kidding everyone.
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