Former India coach John Wright suspects there was an Australian provocation behind Harbhajan Singh’s on-field outburst during the Sydney Test and said the outrage against the three-Test ban on the off spinner stems from a sense of injustice.
“I don’t believe Harbhajan was talking in a vacuum out there, knowing how the Australians play the game in the middle,” he said.
Wright said he knew both Harbhajan and Symonds from his time as the Kent coach and he said both are lively players but “good boys. But it’s not a church out there and I can’t believe there was silence,” he said.
“Things are said in the heat of the moment, but it’s important players from both sides take a deep breath and step back,” Wright suggested.
On the tumultuous reaction cerated by the ban on Harbhajan, Wright said, “I think India believes justice has not been seen to be done.”
Wright, who had a fruitful five-year stint with the Indian team, felt it was not the defeat, but the circumstances that led to the result, that has upset the Indians. India have no problem in accepting a defeat but the series of umpiring howlers and the racism row have left them with a sense of injustice, said Wright.
“Cricket is such a passion in the country it is more of a national situation. The Board is not just representing the players but hundreds of millions who follow cricket, so there is a lot of pressure from that perspective. Clearly, India is feeling a sense of injustice from the match,” Wright was quoted as saying by The Press.