Hayden said Indian complain because they’re losing every game they are playing
The pair (Hayden and Harbhajan) clashed during Sunday’s CB Series game at the SCG when the Indians complained that Hayden had called Harbhajan a “mad boy”.
Hayden played down the incident, accusing the Indians of complaining because “they are losing every game they are playing,” adding: “I called him a bad boy.”
“He took offence to that, I thought that was quite funny. I said mate, you should be flattered, it’s a clothing range.”

What Hayden tried was a flat joke, since no one in India is aware of a local clothing range that Hayden is fond of. Well the Indians have shown the writing on the wall to Aussie players and it’s the Aussies who’ve been complaining to the umpires all the time. Thumbs Down.

Hayden called Harbhajan an “obnoxious little weed”
Well an unprovoked statement about a person is really going to get Hayden in the docks though presently he is saying that outside the cricketing arena and only CA (Cricket Australia) can do something about this. And it is about time they acted. Thumbs Down.

Well then, what was the Joke?
Symonds on getting out asked Sharma,”Hey thanks, where’re the restrooms?”, causing Sharma to point his fingers towards the pavillion. Well, that’s how he got reported by Ponting. Well trapped!

Peter Nielsen said, “We know where the line in the sand is.”
Sure, It does seem that the line is behind them and they’re just checking out if the umpire is watching. Thumbs Down.

Dhoni said,”Sledging is an Art form perfected by Australians.”
This is not a college JAM session. We’re playing in an unequal field where English natives are using the official language of ICC to manipulate the opposition. The intended meaning is that English is the native tongue of the Australians and they can manipulate words much better to avoid any word in the English dictionary of ICC. However, ICC has a much stringent dictionary for Hindi, whereas a sledge in Hindi is neither provocative but still more acceptable as a hurt to the ICC. Thumbs Down.

Andrew Symonds provoked Sreesanth, Harbhajan and Ishant Sharma. Ponting, Hayden and Hogg all tempted the Indians through words they are aware are unacceptable to Indian minds. Sure they fell into the trap laid for them. But they are young and unable to fathom why the ICC dictionary has lesser blacklisted words of English and more in Hindi? Anyway, it is quite brave though foolish to go ahead and pay the fine and then show the way to the Pavilion to the Aussies. Way to go! Thumbs Up.

We’ve all discovered in this series the stuff the Australian players are made of. We’ve seen them cheat to get ahead and the players who cheated included their Captain Ponting (called a wild dog by none other than Peter Roebuck - but coming from their own, this is surely more acceptable than being called a monkey by opposition), Andrew Symonds, Clarke and others who took advantage and claimed bounced catches besides other clear dismissals while batting. Thumbs Down.

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India vs Australia ODI match Brisbane 3 February, 2008 - A Fun Report

These were the other possible headlines:
- Sachin digs his heels in - too far for comfort
- Dhoni shows he can bat as painfully as Ravi Shastri (Champion of Champions)
- luck’s dalliance with Tiwary
- India batsmen fall in line - a lesson in discipline
- Harbhajan Singh gets turned on by Brett Lee carnage
- Rain God furious at Duckworth and Lewis

The Brisbane ground had a huge cloud cover and prediction of rain.

India won the toss and opted to Bat first and an immediate mini collapse ensued. Well we remember T20 was a practice match - the dress rehearsal and this was going to be the real show. So you alreayd knew what was going to happen.

Sehwag got out to a quick start towards the pavillion. Sachin dug his heels well, actually too well. And he didn’t notice that he had dug his heels so well that they upset his stumps. It didn’t exactly hurt as anyway India were quite slow off the blocks.

Gambhir and Rohit Sharma dug their heels in (careful enough not to dig into the stumps like Sachin). Australia were happy to allow them since they were ready to go on slowly. They dropped Gambhir twice in an over to make their point. But Gambhir sensed something was wrong. He understood the scheme, so he went and all batsmen followed him - Rohit, Tiwary and Uthappa. If they’d have gone after the Aussies bowlers with such speed, we could have seen a great match.

Now began a laborious chapter. Dhoni being the captain assumes that he needs to bat slow in crisis and Irfan like a dutiful sub-ordinate obeyed HMV. It was a painful restoration of the Indian score as they kept trading the scoring rate for aggregate increase. Harbhajan Singh got turned on by Brett Lee carnage but he avoided the temptation of patting him on his back. So, he patted his bat with the same intensity. It was the always irreverent Harbhajan who slashed at everything sent by Symonds and his pals. He was pulling so well today, that he even pulled his own hamstring to show us, and then hopped around for runs till an idea struck him. He started hitting 4s!! Well I do wish Symonds curses everyone in the Indian team so that everyone turns Harbhajan. Sreesanth and Ishan timed their innings well to finish with the 45 overs they were allotted. No one can complain that India didn’t use their complete battery.

India ended at 194 all out in 45 overs. Brett Lee got 5 wickets.

The Australians were laughing. Another sitting duck after T20. Irfan Pathan who had taken 51 balls to score his 21 runs, gave away 27 runs in just 12 balls. Australia was on a roll! Well, the way Hopes started, it looked like he wanted to keep Hayden out of the scheme of things longer than his captain would like. Then an astonishing thing happened, something that Ponting hates. Adam Gilchrist walked! Now everyone walks after being out, but they prefer to be given out and told to leave.

Let us pray to God to restore more Gilchrists to the game. Amen.

Well Hopes was dashed, or may I say Hopes were dashed. He was heart broken (by Ishant who broke his wicket). Ponting proved once again that neither Harbhajan nor Ishant have got his mickey. He left before they came. Wow! What a man! What pride!

Now at 51 for 3 in 7.2 overs it began to rain once again and the Duckworth Lewis gave us their amazing stuff by reducing the target to 141 off 26 overs. However, God has stopped loving the D/L method and he goes for a complete washout. The match was washed out.

It was a funny match and it seems that India had a narrow escape and so did Australia since you never know if they could’ve won or lost from this situation however to be fair Sreesanth was not happy since he was just starting to enjoy what could’ve ended as one of his best outings.. he didn’t even get to dance.

(the above are written in a funny mood and not intended to hurt your sentiment - i doubt if any actual players gets time to read - so please don’t (get) hurt yourself defending them

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Andrew Symonds was he called monkey by Harbhajan?
Andrew Symonds says yes he was called, whereas Harbhajan denies.
Inconclusive, since except Andrew Symonds no one knows that. Neutral.

What evidence is there regarding the abuse?
Sure, the video shows them (Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh) having a friendly chat, and there was no anger on Andrew Symond’s face. The video is the only evidence as nobody could have heard the personal friendly discussion they were having. Sachin Tendulkar denies it while Matthew Hayden says he heard it. So, it’s one’s word against another. So no evidence. Neutral.

Is monkey a racial abuse?
Mostly, No! Well it matter about what we think about our forefathers - monkeys. I think here we would need a dictionary of racist words since a lot of words are confusing. Is Gay a racist word? What is racist? Is bastard (uttered by Brad Hogg for the Captain Anil Kumble) racist? Well, one thing is certain. Monkey may be abusive to some extent, but ranks way below Bastard and F***er. Thumbs Down.

Is there a resemblance between Andrew Symonds and Hanuman - the monkey God?
Hanuman is the monkey God, and the paint on the face of Andrew Symonds strikingly resembles the way Indians drew their God. And that said, the image that comes to every Indian’s mind on seeing these images is the same. You check out these images yourself and decide. So, it is same as calling Inzamam an “Aloo” potato, or Harbhajan a “Turbanator” - hats off to Inzamam and Harbhajan since they grin and bear it! Thumbs Up.

Is the punishment justified?
Well, since there is no evidence of an abuse, and there is a debate on the word being a racial abuse, a maximum of verbal reprimand or a 10% match fees is the maximum they could have gone just to send a strong message. Racial abuse is a strong charge, and surely different from abuse, and cannot be made without strong evidence. Thumbs Down.

Are the issues (of bad umpiring decisions and racial abuse charge) linked?
Well they are getting linked by media and the crowds. A lot of people see it as a attention diverting tactic which is expected to move the focus from the bad umpiring to the racial abuse event, at least temporarily till the hurt of being cheated settles down. Bad tactic. Thumbs Down.

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