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Harbhajan under fire again
09/03/2008 16:31 - (SA)
Sydney - Cricket Australia (CA) have
lodged a formal complaint with the Indian cricket board over
comments made by Harbhajan Singh about Matthew Hayden and Adam
Gilchrist.
CA chief executive James Sutherland asked the Indian board
to take action against Harbhajan after he called Hayden "a big
liar" and said Gilchrist was "no saint".
"Enough is enough," Sutherland wrote in a letter to the
board, published in Sydney's Sun Herald newspaper.
"Despite assurances that you have instructed him not to fuel
this issue any more, Harbhajan continues to say whatever he
wants.
"When will it ever end? Could you please deal with your
player in regard to these comments."
The Indian board said it had instructed Harbhajan not to
comment on the controversies which marred the tour Down Under.
"We have told Harbhajan that there should be no more such
comments," board secretary Niranjan Shah told Reuters on Sunday.
"We both (boards) feel players should not get into these things
again."
Harbhajan was involved in several disputes with the
Australian players during their recent tour.
Relations between the teams deteriorated to such a point
that the Indians briefly suspended the tour and the
International Cricket Council appointed a mediator to broker a
peace deal.
Harbhajan was originally banned for three matches after the
Australians complained that he made racist comments about Andrew
Symonds during the second Test but the suspension was overturned
on appeal when the charge was downgraded to a lesser offence.
'Obnoxious weed'
Both teams were warned about their behaviour but the tension
remained. CA reprimanded Hayden after he called Harbhajan an
"obnoxious weed" during the one-day series.
India complained to CA about Hayden's comments and
instructed their own players not to retaliate to ensure the row
did not escalate.
But after returning to India, Harbhajan could not be
silenced.
"Don't talk about Hayden's credibility, he is a big liar,"
the spinner was quoted as saying in the Delhi-based tabloid Mail
Today.
"He (Gilchrist) is also not a saint. He pretends to be a
saint - someone who doesn't say an offensive word on the field.
But this is completely wrong."
CA wants India to discipline Harbhajan.
"We've tried over the summer to get the balance right in the
way controversial comment has been managed," a CA spokesperson told
the newspaper.
"And we certainly, through our actions with Matthew Hayden,
have been firm with our own players in terms of where the
tipping point is.
"We believe it is possible to make intelligent, thoughtful
and even provocative public comment without descending to
personal abuse."
- Reuters
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