Reuters

Harbhajan out for a duck

Updated 11.56 Thu Jan 10 2008

Keywords: cricket, Australia, Harbhajan Singh, India, Anil kimble, Ricky Ponting

Harbhajan Singh was out for a duck as India's controversial tour of Australia continued with a three-day match against an ACT Invitational XI in Canberra.

The spinner - facing a three-Test suspension after he was accused of racially abusing Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds - was caught by James Crosthwaite off Ryan Bulger before India declared on 325 for nine.

Meanwhile, it emerged that Kumble had tried to persuade Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting not to proceed with a formal charge against Harbhajan over the alleged racist jibe

ACT had made ten without loss by stumps.

Regular captain Anil Kumble and batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were all rested for the game which would not have been played had India not agreed to resume their tour while they await the outcome of their appeal against Harbhajan's ban.

Meanwhile, it emerged that Kumble had tried to persuade Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting not to proceed with a formal charge against Harbhajan over the alleged racist jibe.

Kumble said he approached Ponting during the second Test and asked that the matter be resolved between the two teams because he feared it would develop into a diplomatic incident.

The Indian skipper said Ponting told him it was too late because he had already reported it to the on-field umpires.

"Having played cricket for this long, (I knew) such an allegation would definitely spiral into what it has now. I anticipated that it would spiral into a larger issue," he added.

Ponting said he had been under instructions from the International Cricket Council to report any racial incidents after there were problems with the crowd on Australia's tour of India last year.