India cricketer ban appeal begins

Harbhajan has vehemently denied the accusations against him

Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh's appeal against a three-match ban for alleged racist comments against an Australian player has begun.

Harbhajan's two-day appeal is being heard by New Zealand judge John Hansen in Adelaide.

Recordings from the stump microphone could be used as evidence in the Indian player's appeal.

The India spinner was found guilty of calling Australia's Andrew Symonds a "monkey" in the second Test in Sydney.

The appeal is a re-hearing of that which was heard by match referee Mike Procter after Australia captain Ricky Ponting made an official complaint about Harbhajan's alleged comments.

Statements will be provided by all witnesses who originally gave evidence to Proctor but Mr Hansen will gain access to sounds captured by the stump microphones when the pair clashed on 6 January.

"There may be some additional evidence such as the transcript available from the stump microphone," Mr Hansen said ahead of the hearing.

'Unfair'

Indian cricket board chief Sharad Pawar has told reporters that he is not pleased with the marshalling of new evidence.

"It is unfair to bring any new evidence at this hour and is against the rule," Mr Pawar told The Indian Express newspaper.

The newspaper also quoted another senior cricket board official as saying that the Indian team would pull out of the cricket tour of Australia if the charges against Singh were upheld.

Symonds is alleged to have been racially abused by Harbhajan

"The Indian board has taken a decision that if the charges are not dropped then the team will come back to India," board vice-president Lalit Modi was quoted as saying.

If the charge is upheld, the Indian off-spinner could miss the first two home Tests against South Africa in March.

Following Australia's 2-1 victory in the Test series, the sides now face each other in a triangular one-day tournament which also involves Sri Lanka.

On-field umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor had levelled a charge under section 3.3 of the International Cricket Council code of conduct following Australian captain Ponting's complaint during the Sydney game.

At the time of the incident, Harbhajan was batting alongside Sachin Tendulkar, who backed his team-mate's claim that he had not called Symonds a "monkey".

In the aftermath of Procter's decision, India suspended the tour and later insisted they might abandon it if Harbhajan's appeal failed.

They also accused Australian spinner Brad Hogg of making an offensive remark to India skipper Anil Kumble and his deputy Mahendra Dhoni.

They have since withdrawn their threat to quit the tour and the charge against Hogg.

Mr Hansen's decision will be provided in writing to Harbhajan, Procter and ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed before it is released publicly.