In A goodwill gesture intended to ease simmering tension between the two teams ahead of the third Test beginning on January 16, India on Monday dropped racism charges against Australian spinner Brad Hogg, underlining that “the game must go on”.

Match Referee Mark Procter was quick to welcome the move as a “magnificent gesture”, calling it representative of the “sportsmanship the Indian team possesses and the way they play their game”.

The Indian team management’s decision followed a 30-minute, closed-door reconciliation meeting between the two captains Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting, with ICC Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle playing the peace broker.

After the meeting, Ponting said he hoped that the focus from here on will remain on cricket, and that “the teams acknowledge that the game must be played in its true spirit”.

However, the cloud still hasn’t lifted over Harbhajan Singh, who was given a three-match ban following Australia’s charges of racism against him. Even if Cricket Australia — under more pressure now to show similar magnanimity towards India — decides to withdraw the charges against the spinner, it’s too late according to ICC laws.

The case has now gone to the Appeals Commissioner, and the process would have to take its full course. Any action/retraction of charges can happen only in his presence during a hearing. Asked if the charge against Harbhajan could be dropped like in the case of Hogg, Madugalle admitted today that it was “technically not” possible.

Late in the evening, the ICC announced that the hearing on Harabhjan’s appeal against the ban will be conducted after the end of the four-Test series on January 29-30, but before the Twenty20 matches and one-day series. ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed added that they would have preferred to conduct the hearing earlier but it was not possible due to different factors.

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