India's cricket team will appeal a three-match suspension against spin bowler Harbhajan Singh and "suspend" operations until the International Cricket Council (ICC) hears the case.
India officials said in a statement issued yesterday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that they would challenge "the unfair decision" to suspend Singh over racist remarks made to Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds during the second Test and that it would "suspend its operation until the appeal is disposed of."
The BCCI said it had convened an emergency meeting in India for today. Indian officials did not immediately say whether that could result in the team not playing the third Test in Perth.
PHOTO: AFP
"The board will fight the blatantly false and unfair slur on an Indian player," said the statement, released by officials at the team's downtown Sydney hotel.
The Indian team was scheduled to travel to Canberra by bus yesterday for a two-day tour match later this week, but earlier in the day decided not to leave Sydney.
Cricket Australia said later yesterday that there had been "no advice of the Indian tour to Australia being canceled."
Chief executive officer James Sutherland said Cricket Australia and the Indian cricket board are continuing to discuss "issues" arising from the Sydney Test, "however, those discussions have not included any advice that the tour will not continue."
India could risk a US$2 million fine from the ICC if they refuse to continue playing the tour.
Under ICC rules, member countries are obliged to fulfill their tour contracts except when the security of the players is at risk or the touring team's government orders that the tour should not proceed.
India could also be liable to reimburse Cricket Australia for any losses incurred.
"Unfair allegation of racism against our Indian player is wholly unacceptable," said BCCI president Sharad Pawar, who is also a senior government minister, in the statement. "The game of cricket is paramount but so too is the honor of India's cricket team and every Indian. The BCCI is committed to protect the country's fair name."
Relations between the teams reached a crisis point after the second Test when India captain Anil Kumble accused the Australians of not playing fair.
"Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game," Kumble said.
Australia won the match on Sunday by 122 runs when Michael Clarke took three wickets in five deliveries with just seven balls to spare.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he believed the match had been played in an excellent spirit and Sutherland suggested yesterday that Ponting and Kumble should try to help mend fences.
"It's only appropriate in that circumstance for Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble to get together to talk about what differences of opinion there may be in that regard," Sutherland said.
The Indian team also expressed their lack of confidence in umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor, and requested that Bucknor be removed from the third Test in Perth.
The Indians appeared to have had at least five umpiring decisions go against them in Sydney, the most blatant an appeal for caught behind against Symonds when he was on 30 in the first innings.
An ICC spokesman said late yesterday that it had not received a request from India for any umpiring changes and that there would be no revision of umpiring assignments for the rest of the tour. Bucknor is scheduled to umpire in Perth.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB