Harbhajan slams 'despicable' Aussie crowd behaviour

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has lashed out at Australian crowds after being cleared of allegations he made monkey gestures and spat toward fans in the tri-series final win against Australia.

Harbhajan was cleared after match referee Jeff Crowe was unable to find any video evidence to confirm the claims by spectators and photographers.

The spinner was shielded from the media when India arrived in Brisbane on Monday to prepare for Tuesday’s second match in the tri-series finals, but the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Harbhajan was appalled by the abuse he got from the crowd.

“Trust me, I didn’t say anything to the crowd, but the language they said to me was despicable,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“It crossed all limits of decency. I had smoke coming out of my ears.”

The outspoken spinner has been public enemy number one with Australian fans and players since clashing with Andrew Symonds in India last year.

He was suspended for three Tests after the second Test in January for allegedly calling Symonds a monkey, but the suspension was overturned at an International Cricket Council appeal hearing, also due to a lack of evidence.

Last week, Harbhajan was called an “obnoxious weed” by Matthew Hayden and responded by claiming the Australian opener was one of the least liked players in world cricket.

Harbhajan told the Daily Telegraph he did not spit at the crowd and simply spat out drinking water between overs, but was less sure about the alleged monkey antics.

“I don’t remember what I was doing,” he said.

The Age newspaper quoted several spectators who were adamant Harbhajan did spit, and make monkey gestures.

“He did the monkey gesture halfway to the boundary, before he could have heard what the crowd were saying,” the Age quoted one as saying.

“He has been accused twice of racially abusing Andrew Symonds, and if they are going to lie about this, it calls into question the other denials.”

The Age also quoted Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, warning that Australian players could be in for an unpleasant reception when they tour India later in the year.

“Let Australia come to us and see what the crowd might do,” he said.

“It’s not a good thing, people must forget.

“All these reports are unnecessary; when your team comes here, if it’s too much media attention maybe there will be the same crowd behaviour in India.”—Sapa-AFP