Brad Hogg as guilty of abuse as Harbhajan | Kumble's U-turn

It's an issue raising eyebrows for almost a week — Australian spinner Brad Hogg has allegedly abused Indian captain Anil Kumble and his deputy, Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the ill-fated Sydney Test.

In a special show, CNN-IBN debated that if Hogg is also accused of abusing Indian players, he too should be facing the music, just like Harbhajan Singh.

Brad Hogg's hearing is slated to take place on Monday, when the ICC will decide whether action should be taken against him or not.

Meanwhile, what has kickstarted another row of sorts is a statement from Andrew Symonds on Saturday, when he said he didn't think Harbhajan Singh is his friend, and therefore, will not accept anything that comes from the Indian off-spinner. However, if the same word were to be used from a close friend, it would have been fine with him.

It seems as if if this is yet another instance of a mind game being played by Symonds, as he chose to go public with his views just hours before another important disciplinary hearing.

Delhi-based correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, Matt Wade said, "I can't really comment on what Symonds has said, because the statement has only just emerged, and I can't divine all the meaning in the comment. But there has been a general sense in Australia in the past week of uneasiness about the way some of the Australian cricketers have been behaving."

This leads to the next natural question — if there is a general sense of uneasiness across the country, then Brad Hogg should also be banned from playing the next three Test matches, the same as Harbhajan Singh.

"I don't think we can necessarily assume all these cases as the same. Let's see what evidence is presented in the Hogg appearance. Just because both those incidents happened in the same Test, doesn't necessarily mean they both are the same and that both players should be punished in the same way," Wade said.

However, if Harbhajan has been held up for racial slur against Symonds, Hogg too has used an abusive word against the Indian players. The difference is as distinct as a similarity.

"Maybe there is no difference. We have to see what all the facts of the case are. All I'm saying is, just because they are two events in the same Test, doesn't make them an equivalent," Wade concluded.

News Source : Samachar