Then & Now: Harbhajan Singh & Andrew Symonds

India's tour of Australia: Complete Coverage

This probably explains why he has been finding it increasingly difficult to steer himself clear of controversies.

But even his detractors will also agree that the three-Test ban that the ICC has slapped on him for his alleged racial slur on Andrew Symonds in the second Test in Sydney is simply too harsh by any yardstick.

One wonders what convinced the match referee Mike Procter, without any recorded proof, that Harbhajan was a culprit and Symonds an angel.

No one knows exactly what transpired when Symonds was batting and Harbhajan was bowling to him. But it's likely that the Indian may have said a few words in the choicest Punjabi or Hindi to the Aussie, which the latter, as is his wont, might have mistaken for a racial abuse.

Symonds is poor a victim of his own inferiority complex and tends to suspect anybody who says something to him, directly or indirectly and in a language he doesn't understand, even without any intention of hurting him or his sentiments. It's high time he became a true sport and showed some broadmindedness.

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Harbhajan banned over Symonds abuse




Harbhajan Singh has copped a three-game ban for racially abusing Andrew Symonds. (Getty Images: Ezra Shaw)



Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh has been banned for three Tests after the International Cricket Council ruled that he racially abused Australia's Andrew Symonds during the just-finished Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.


The Australians complained that Harbhajan called Symonds a "monkey" during day three of the second Test.
Match referee Mike Procter says he is satisfied that Harbhajan used the word and that he intended to offend Symonds on the basis of his race.
Harbhajan denied the charge and India says it will appeal against the decision. India lost the match in dramatic circumstances yesterday evening, with Australia taking three wickets in the final 10 minutes to secure a 122-run win.


At his post-match press conference last night India captain Anil Kumble launched an astonishing attack on Australia's cricketers, accusing them of breaching the spirit of the game.


Asked by Indian journalists about Australia's tactics, Kumble echoed something similar to the immortal line used by the Australian captain Bill Woodfull during the 1932-33 Bodyline series against England.


"Only one team was playing with the spirit of the game," Kumble said.
But Australia captain Ricky Ponting has defended his team's actions, rejecting Kumble's suggestion that they claimed questionable catches.
"Anil and I before the series started got together and we actually said that that was the way we'd be playing the series," he said.


"If there was a contentious catch, unless the fielder was 100 per cent sure that he caught it, that the captains would let the umpire know either way."

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Mumbai Indians' Harbhajan Singh, center, and Andrew Symonds, right, celebrate the dismissal of Chennai Super Kings' Suresh Raina. (AP Photo)