Sydney: The simmering feud between the Indian and Australian teams took another turn on Sunday with the visitors lodging a complaint against left-arm spinner Brad Hogg for using abusive language during the second Test.
India lodged a formal complaint against Hogg during the disciplinary hearing into Harbhajan Singh's alleged racial abuse directed at Andrew Symonds.
The new development has only intensified the already charged atmosphere in the two camps, who have been engaged in a virtual war of attrition in the second Test which ended ina 122-run loss for India on Sunday.
Horrendous umpiring decisions, which proved costly for India, and the blatantly unsporting conduct of the Australians has left the Indians infuriated with captain Anil Kumble saying at the post-match press conference that "only one team played in the true spirit of the game."
In what has been a week of high drama marked by charges and counter-charges, the latest development only reflects the bitterness between the two teams.
The Australians have accused Harbhajan of racially abusing Symonds during the third day of the Sydney Test and lodged a formal complaint with the umpires, who, however, have gone on record saying they heard nothing offensive.
Harbhajan was subsequently asked to appear for a hearing by ICC Match Referee Mike Procter.
The off-spinner has been charged under rule 3.3 of the ICC's Code of Conduct that deals with using language or gestures that insults a person on the basis of race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.
If found guilty, he could be banned for two to four Tests or four to eight One-Dayers. But Harbhajan has vehemently denied saying anything racial during the altercation.
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