Harbhajan reignites racism storm

Something was said.
Ponting nor Symonds would just make this stuff up

BoyBrumby said:

Just been listening to Sky's take on the incident during the rain break. Apparently the umps heard nothing and the report was made solely on a complaint made by Ponting.

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Yeah, umpires didn't hear any thing - Procter comfirmed in an interview. Ian Chappell mentioned during commentary with Star that the umpires had not heard any thing apparently as well and then it is just one person/team's word against the other. Without evidence, the case shouldn't have even gone to the match referee according to him.

Thinking over it, I think that that is a very good point by Chappell as the huge uproar over this matter in the public and news every where does nothing except tarnish cricket's name around the world as it is unlikely to result in any thing - as you say, it is without evidence that Harbhajan will be exonerated in all likelihood.

Can't really blame the media much for acting the way they have done regarding this issue, they are no saints, they thrive on such incidents to add as much spice into the situation as possible so they can sell more newspapers, but i never expected any outcome of this incident, Harbhajan is never gonna accept that he said something harsh to Symonds and Symonds won't take a step back either so without any evidence the whole case would go nowhere.
But one thing is for sure that such an incidenct surely tarnishes the reputation of the game, situation was bad enough with the possible threat of the crowds targetting players with racial taunts and the last thing we wanted was players racially abusing each other on the field!

Pratyush said:

Racism in every form should be shunned. However, in this particular incident, Harbhajan Singh has denied the allegation. So it is the word of Symonds v the word of Harbhajan Singh. I don't know which players and umpires heard what yet. Till a verdict is passed and I know more details, I wont be judgemental and start bashing Harbhajan Singh yet. We have already had more than our fair share of drama for this test though and it is a controversy which the series could have done without.

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Yup !

nvm

On a bit of a side note...does anyone else think Harbajhan looks like John Butler's Indian doppleganger?

I heard this being discussed on the radio this morning, and they said they Ponting had been the one to lay the complaint at the end of the days play. Since the umpires didn't hear anything, then no action should be taken because it is the word of one player against the other. If Symond's was miffed about something being said, then why didn't he report it? Is it just Ponting trying to stir some ****? How likely is it that Harbhajan, during the middle of his innings, just randomly started abusing Symonds. Not very IMO.

Perm said:

How likely is it that Harbhajan, during the middle of his innings, just randomly started abusing Symonds. Not very IMO.

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Well they were bantering on prior to when the abuse was reported and it is very common for something like this to happen (unless you can suggest another suitable time). Mark Benson covering his mouth when talking to Singh may also lead us to think that perhaps something did occur on the field between the players, but we'll have to wait for more evidence and await the results of the hearing.

Perm said:

I heard this being discussed on the radio this morning, and they said they Ponting had been the one to lay the complaint at the end of the days play. Since the umpires didn't hear anything, then no action should be taken because it is the word of one player against the other. If Symond's was miffed about something being said, then why didn't he report it? Is it just Ponting trying to stir some ****? How likely is it that Harbhajan, during the middle of his innings, just randomly started abusing Symonds. Not very IMO.

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Both captains were told before the series if there was any racial abuse then only the captain could report it to the umpires

I read that article this morning and was embarrassed for him. It was so one-sided and mentioned seemingly completely unrelated rubbish about Ganguly banging his bat on the ground. Truly dire. There was however a really interesting article in The Australian that painted Harbhajan as a bit of a rebel – I particularly loved the part about chasing a fan out of the ground and being kicked out of his cricket academy for saying a dog shouldn’t have to eat the food they were served up He sounds like quite a character.

As for the row I think it’s really unfortunate and is distracting from an otherwise brilliant test match. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence he said anything – so it’s just one man’s word against another’s. In other words nothing will come of it. I do wish sometimes people would try and solve things in a less confrontational and litigious manner that can unnecessarily destroy reputations.

archie mac said:

Both captains were told before the series if there was any racial abuse then only the captain could report it to the umpires

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Yep, even if that as not from just direct players. For instance if they had some crowd racism going towards them, the captains are the ones who should report it as discussed with match referee prior to the start of the series.

alternative said:

Yep, even if that as not from just direct players. For instance if they had some crowd racism going towards them, the captains are the ones who should report it as discussed with match referee prior to the start of the series.

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Really can't believe some people are attacking Ponting in this instance. Absolutely ridiculous. People always find a way to criticise him, even if he's doing the exact right thing.

sideshowtim said:

Really can't believe some people are attacking Ponting in this instance. Absolutely ridiculous. People always find a way to criticise him, even if he's doing the exact right thing.

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If it's true that all reports have to come through the captain, then it does seem as if he's acted correctly, yes. He has a duty to protect his players' interests too.

Some section of Indian media are bashing the aussies and have Just faintly criticised symonds but they are not as unbalanced and stupid as the australain media.
Sidhu,Kapil dev and Sandeep patil have criticised symonds and Sidhu and Dev have abslolutely slammed symonds as saying he should be punished for these false allegations if they are false even harshly.
Hayden has said that they have a strong case against bhaji but Indian team manager has replied that they are Honest and as they know that they will fight tooth and nail this case.
I would not want to be mike proctor at this time as it could get messy with lawyers coming in.
As for Benson covering his mouth while talking to bhajji is concerned perhaps ponting went complaining to them before and alleged that something racist was said and they were asking him that was it true and he denied on the spot.

But as confirmed by chappel and slater in commentary that this row is about harbhajan calling symonds allegedly a "monkey".But as harsha bhogle responded we have god in India who is a monkey called "hanuman".So questions have to be raised even if hypothetically assume that bhajji called him that is that racist?
We Indian's can take offence to the fact that this word is being called as an insult as it effectively means insulting our god "hanumana" and worshippers of him?
It is all a thing of perspective but I feel the aussies are going overboard as they did in India and I would not put it past them trying to get him punised because of his tiff with ponting and trying to play pshycological games.
I also do not think bhajji was anyway showing his superiority of his race over his,even if he called him that it was in the heat of the moment and because of him being short of english words to respond quickly to abuse from symonds.

It might lower the tone somewhat, but surely it's a wee bit ironic that Symonds is the alleged target of the "monkey" name-calling when the Australian captain himself has rather more obvious simian qualities....

Pratyush said:

- Lot of **** written in the Australian newspapers. Bhogle showed a few today.

- One piece was on how caste determines who is selected for India. Another piece was saying Harbhajan to be sent home.

- Bhogle has pointed out that judgements used to be passed based on evidence and there has been no evidence presented yet.

- It is irritating how Harbhajan Singh is suddenly being pronounced villain by a lot of people,before a judgement has been passed.

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That was rubbish .absolutely rubbish.
It also mentions how kambli was dropped from team and booed because of his complexion while sachin was loved and adored.
FFs,we Indian's do not feel like that for our policy in cricket ,then who are these aussie ***** who call themselves journalist to allege that?
Hopefully ,The indian newspapers respond equally agressively and allege how different ethical groups in aus are preferred and that by alleging that Symonds is abused racially by his own teammates.

I also hate how bhajji is being labelled a villain while In india there is a more balanced view on symond's role.

Cevno said:

But as confirmed by chappel and slater in commentary that this row is about harbhajan calling symonds allegedly a "monkey".But as harsha bhogle responded we have god in India who is a monkey called "hanuman".So questions have to be raised even if hypothetically assume that bhajji called him that is that racist?
We Indian's can take offence to the fact that this word is being called as an insult as it effectively means insulting our god "hanumana" and worshippers of him?
It is all a thing of perspective but I feel the aussies are going overboard as they did in India and I would not put it past them trying to get him punised because of his tiff with ponting and trying to play pshycological games..

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That's absolute crap. India know that Symonds was offended by crowds calling him a monkey - you couldn't possibly believe that Harbhajan was calling him a god.

Anyone watch the thing on the Cricket Show at lunch today? About the racism in Indian crowds? It was ridiculous. This wasn't just one or two people...This was thousands and thousands endorsing these racist chants. There was a sign saying "Why a monkey amongst kangaroos?"...Look at Symo with a straight face and tell him that they are actualling calling him a monkey because of some monkey god with fangs and horns and wings in India. What a ludicrous justification of the name calling...

All just guess work at this stage and I'm more worried about the reactions from some to the issue that anything else. No one knows what has happened yet, for all we know it could be a huge misunderstanding as Tendulkar has indicated. Many points here and in the official thread are assumptions at best.

SirBloody Idiot said:

That's absolute crap. India know that Symonds was offended by crowds calling him a monkey - you couldn't possibly believe that Harbhajan was calling him a god.

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But did not mcgrath know before making ***ual comments about sarwan and lara that he would be offended?and what about other abuses aussies have dished out over the years ,did they think opposition enjoyed it?
As the ex aussie prime minster said that "it was somethings aussies do" since he was seeing it as a aussie and from his countries perspective.
Similarly calling someone a monkey based on his build,hair and facial features is similar to someone calling mcgrath a "giraffe" from a indian point of view.And it is not racist.
My point is that it was in no way be intended to be a comment that showed superoirity of his ethnicity over others.As his english is not good enough he just said what came to his mind(if he did) quickly to just respond to symond's abuse in quick time .as not giving him a upper hand in that argument.
You could say that he should have known about aussie history of abuse before saying it but then i could contend that symonds should have known about India having a monkey god before contending it was racist as it could hurt people too.