5 times cricket was tainted with racism

Harbhajan's cussing mistaken for slur, puts Australia tour in jeopardy

After the Test, Indian captain Anil Kumble famously remarked that only one team had played in the spirit of the game.

The Monkey-gate incident during India’s tour of Australia in 2008, one of the most controversy-ridden series played between the two sides, involved two fiery characters from either side – Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds. The second Test at Sydney had been boiling with plenty of glaring umpiring errors and poor sportsmanship from the Aussie side, arguably changing the course of the game in favor of the Aussies. Adding fuel to fire, the altercation between the duo occurred at the end of the 116th over of India’s 1st innings on the third day of the Test. Harbhajan, who was batting with Sachin Tendulkar, tapped Lee on the back with his bat, apparently saying "hard luck", after he had edged a boundary past slips. Lee did not react. However, Symonds, who had been continually provoking Harbhajan, walked up to the latter and swore at him. ‘Teri Maa Ki’, Harbhajan swore back an oft-used cuss word in Indian language which Symonds mistook as ‘Monkey’. The issue heated up when the Australians lodged a formal complaint at the end of the day’s play, accusing Harbhajan of racist abuse. After hearing both sides, match referee Mike Procter pronounced a 3-match ban on Harbhajan, which the Indians appealed against. Following the ban and the overall poor sportsmanship during the test, the Indian side threatened to walk out of the tour unless the ban on Harbhajan was lifted. Subsequently, Harbhajan’s ban was downgraded to a fine of 50% of match fees, a lesser charge of ‘using abusive language’ was applied in place of the unproven racist charges and the tour went on.