April 12, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1429

SYDNEY, April 11: Australia’s cricketers heading to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) have been urged to heal damaged sporting relations with the event’s host nation.

After an acrimonious Test and one-day series earlier this year, when bad feeling between the two cricketing powers plunged to new depths, Australia are hopeful their presence at the pioneering tournament will repair the rift.

Rivalry between the teams turned ugly during the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds race row and India’s subsequent threat to go home early if Harbhajan was banned.

Harbhajan was ruled out for three matches for allegedly racially abusing Symonds during the second Test in Sydney, but his suspension was later overturned on appeal.

Matthew Hayden then called Harbhajan an “obnoxious weed” on radio during the subsequent one-day series.

Ricky Ponting, Symonds and Brett Lee are among a large group of Australians spread across the eight franchises in the lucrative Twenty20 competition, which starts next week.

Player agent Neil Maxwell, who is also the chief executive of the Mohali IPL franchise, urged the Australians to end the bitter atmosphere that has existed between the two national squads.

“If the players are smart, and already I’ve seen Matthew Hayden extend an olive branch, they’ll use this opportunity... to be embraced by their local community and then be appreciated by the broader cricket audience in India,” Maxwell said on Friday.

“There’s definitely a level of negativity towards Australian players en masse.”—AFP