Symonds rubs it in, blames Bhajji for bad blood

EYE OF A STORM: Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds alleges Indian player abused him.

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New Delhi: Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has said that the ongoing series against India was being played in the spirit of the game till Harbhajan Singh confronted the Aussies in the Sydney Test.

Harbhajan and Symonds were seen having an animated discussion after which the Aussies alleged a racism slur by the Indian off-spinner on Symonds. Match referee Mike Procter slapped a three-Test ban on Harbhajan, against which the Indians are appealing.

"Brett Lee had just sent down a delivery and Harbhajan took off down the wicket. When he was returning to his crease, he decided to hit Brett on the backside. I have no idea why he did it,” Symonds was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun newspaper of Australia.

"I was standing nearby and when I saw what happened, I thought, 'Hold on, that's not on'. I'm a firm believer in sticking up for your teammate so I stepped in and had a bit of a crack at Harbhajan, telling him exactly what I thought of his antics. He then had a shot back, which brings us to the situation we're facing."

"I must admit the incident was pretty surprising, because relations between the two sides so far have been very good," Symonds said. "It's been a series played in really good spirit. There's been no sledging or bad blood."