When ‘mother’s abuse’ saved Indian cricketer from being banned, Sachin’s testimony was of no use

New Delhi. When the excitement of cricket is at its peak, the tension is also high. This is nothing new in the India-Australia series. Cricketers are also taught ways to deal with this stress along with the game. It is a different matter that these tips do not work all the time. Many times players have to resort to their ‘mother tongue’. A few years ago, in the India-Australia test match itself, Harbhajan Singh also came out on the field and then such an uproar happened that this off-spinner was banned for 3 matches. Angered by this, the Indian team refused to play the next match. The boards of India and Australia came face to face. The ball left the ICC referee’s court and reached the court. Harbhajan Singh recently remembered this historical uproar in a podcast.

Let’s talk openly. If we look at the scorecard of the Sydney Test match played between India and Australia in 2008, the visiting team will see a defeat by 122 runs. But this was such a defeat that hardly any Indian fan would be angry with his/her players. Every Indian cricket fan was very happy with the performance of Team India in this match, especially with the batting of the first innings. India had scored 532 runs in its first innings of this match. If 6 decisions had not been given against India, India would have definitely won the match.

Kangaroos enraged by Sachin-Bhajji’s century partnership
Anyway, coming back to the biggest controversy of this match. During India’s first innings, Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh had made a partnership of 129 runs for the eighth wicket. The kangaroos were upset. They were still sledging Sachin within limits but Harbhajan Singh was being continuously provoked. It was as if Andrew Symonds had taken the responsibility of provoking Harbhajan. Whenever he/she went near the batter, he/she would say something and leave. If the over was over and the players were moving around to change their positions, Bhajji would have been on target. Finally Harbhajan Singh got angry. he/she said something that made Andrew Symonds think he/she was being called a monkey. Then what was left. There was an uproar. The matter first reached the umpire and then the match referee. The hearing took place.

Referee accepted Clark’s testimony
Some players including Michael Clarke also appeared as witnesses for Andrew Symonds. Clarke said that he/she had heard Harbhajan calling him/her a monkey. Sachin also reached on behalf of Harbhajan. Tendulkar testified that Harbhajan Singh had not said monkey. Sachin’s words were not listened to. The match referee banned Harbhajan Singh for 3 test matches. Then what was left. The Indian team playing under the leadership of Anil Kumble also got uprooted. The captain announced that the team would not play the match until the allegations against Bhajji were properly investigated and the ban imposed on him/her was not lifted. Headlines started appearing in the media that India might leave the tour midway.

Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir. (file photo)

New Zealand judge lifts ban on bhajji
Indian Board President Sharad Pawar intervened in the matter. he/she said that the series will continue, but India will not accept the decision on Harbhajan Singh. India appealed against the decision of match referee Mike Proctor. As a result, ICC had to hand over this matter to the Code of Conduct Commission. New Zealand High Court Judge John Hansen conducted the hearing. The judge found that there was no evidence to prove the allegations against Bhajji. There is neither video nor audio evidence. The match referee has given the decision considering only the words of the Australian players as correct, which is not appropriate. In this way, the ban imposed on Harbhajan Singh was lifted due to lack of evidence. However, he/she was found guilty of abusing and ordered to deduct 50 percent of the match fee as fine.

ICC has made a list of some words to stop racial remarks. Monkey is also included in this list. All the players playing international cricket know about this list. It is also known that using such words can result in severe punishment.

what did bhajji say
Harbhajan Singh has repeatedly stated that he/she abused Symonds in Hindi in anger. Bhajji had called Symonds ‘your mother’s’. The Australian all-rounder mistook it for a monkey. Recently, Harbhajan Singh also admitted in News18 India’s podcast that he/she had abused his/her mother.

tag: Andrew Symonds, Harbhajan Singh, india vs australia, Sachin Tendulkar, sydney test, team india