ICC chief Speed warns India to play on

ICC chief Malcolm Speed, who received much criticism for the fact that by sacking Steve Bucknor for the Perth Test and allowing Harbhajan Singh to play pending his appeal, the ICC caved in to Indian demands, has now warned India to commit to completing the Test series.

London, Jan 10 : ICC chief Malcolm Speed, who received much criticism for the fact that by sacking Steve Bucknor for the Perth Test and allowing Harbhajan Singh to play pending his appeal, the ICC caved in to Indian demands, has now warned India to commit to completing the Test series.

He is reportedly to have insisted that the ICC will not be held to ransom by India over the Harbhajan Singh affair, a report in the Times Online said.

India has threatened to pull out of their current tour of Australia if spinner Harbhajan is not cleared of racial abuse on appeal.

As Harbhajan's appeal could be heard before the end of the series, Speed, the ICC chief executive, said India would have to abide by any ruling. "I am very pleased the tour is going ahead, there is a process in place for appeals and Harbhajan Singh has appealed," he said. "India have signed off on the appeals process. They were there when all the discussions took place," the Times Online quoted him as saying. e added: "We can't have one set of rules for the India team and another set for everyone else. We will follow the process and I hope whatever the outcome all parties will be able to say they have had a fair hearing."

ANI