SYDNEY, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The Indian cricket team, incensed over a finding of racial abuse against its star spinner, has halted its tour of Australia until it appeals the ruling.
The controversy, the latest in a series of incidents brewing between the two sides, exploded Sunday after the International Cricket Council match referee banned Harbhajan Singh for three tests. Singh had been accused of calling Andrew Symonds, the only non-white on the Australian team, a "monkey," the Times of London reported.
In suspending the remainder of the tour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India called the finding "blatantly false" and the suspension "patently unfair," the Press Trust of India reported.
The incident arose after India lost the second test match in Sydney. It also lost the first. Prior to the Singh incident, India had protested what it claimed as poor umpiring.
The tour has been suspended with two more test matches remaining.
Indian captain Anil Kumble had earlier been upset with umpiring when Symonds, who went on to score 162 runs, was declared not out when he had only 30 runs to his credit, the Times report said. Symonds later reportedly admitted he was out.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying the match overall was "played in the right spirit."
