The so-called racial abuse of Andrew Symonds by Harbhajan is taking a horrible turn with the India Tour of Australia under threat of being suspended. Moreover, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has asked its players to refrain from traveling to Canberra as scheduled and remain in Sydney until the lost honor for Harbhajan is restored.
The BCCI has said that it is committed to honoring every player and that this slur against Bhajji is unjust. In doing so, the BCCI will not care for suspending the Australia tour in between, with two tests and one-day series remaining. Also, if the tour stands suspended, India will have to pay a hefty fine of $2 million as compensation.
The second test proved to be a total disaster for the Indian side. The first two days showed that India would grab the test, however, destiny had something else in store for the Indian cricketers. Seven dubious decisions going against them and the test belonged to Australia. And to add to their woes was the suspension of Harbhajan for racial abuse, which actually is not the reality according to the Indian players.
India, as a country and nation, is extremely passionate about cricket, and reveres its cricketers as Gods. While, the Indians say that Harbhajan has been unnecessarily involved in this episode, the Australians seem hell-bent on getting him punished for the same. However, in this fight for dignity, status, racism, all that stands to lose is the game of cricket. No matter, who said what and which country was involved, the game of cricket must remain supreme. Every effort should be made to not sacrifice the dignity of the game. Every effort must aim at saving the game from disrepute.
Where does the tour go from here? BCCI will only decide.
Source: The Australian
