January 17, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 07, 1429

PERTH, Jan 16: The ill feeling between Australia and India after the contentious Sydney Test was left behind on the opening day of the third match of the series at the WACA on Wednesday.

The second Test was marred by accusations of racial abuse and poor sportsmanship and saw Indian captain Anil Kumble accuse Australia of not playing in the spirit of the game.

India subsequently threatened to withdraw from the tour when Harbhajan Singh was suspended for three games for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds, while International Cricket Council (ICC) chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle was summoned to Perth to broker a peace deal between the sides.

Harbhajan’s appeal against his ban will be held after the four-match series is finished.

After their on-field behaviour was thoroughly dissected in the media in the wake of the Sydney Test, players from both sides were on their best behaviour on Wednesday, although Andrew Symonds struggled to contain his frustration when an LBW appeal against Sachin Tendulkar was turned down.

Australian speedster Shaun Tait even apologised to Tendulkar after appealing for a catch behind when the ball had deflected off the batsman’s elbow.

Indian batsman Rahul Dravid said he had no complaints about the behaviour of the Australians.

“They played it tough like they usually do,” he said. “They ran in hard right through the day. They were competitive and it was played in very good spirit.” Dravid admitted he spoke to umpires Asad Rauf and Billy Bowden because the Australian bowlers were rushing through their overs to try and counter a slow over rate.—AFP