Mumbai: Australian captain Ricky Ponting today said no player from the Indian or Australian teams had made "a big deal" about the alleged racism incident in which Andrew Symonds is said to have received racist taunts from spectators at Vadodara.
"I don't think Andrew Symonds made too much about the incident. It was not him but the match referee who brought up the issue... Symonds has dealt with it in the most sensible and mature way," Ponting said
Ponting, who was at a function where he was appointed brand ambassador for a lubricant brand, said the issue regarding the alleged racial abuse had been highlighted by the Indian media.
When pointed out that Australians players had been punished in the past for racism, Ponting said, "Australians found guilty in the past have been penalised. What we would like is to have racism totally eradicated from all sporting events."
Symonds allegedly received racial taunts while he was fielding during the fifth one-dayer at Vadodara. The Australian team had said they would not lodge a formal complaint. Australia has already clinched the series and will play the seventh and final ODI in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Fast bowler Brett Lee echoed his captain's words and said there was no "ill feeling" between the teams. "The relationship we have with the present Indian cricket team is better than ever before. There have been no problems in the past and I hope there will be none in the future," Lee said while attending a function.
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``We can’t control what happens off the field (while we are playing). It is all about being competitive on the field. There is a fine line which we know is not to be crossed and we have not crossed it," he said.
Lee also said that despite having won the series there would be no quarter given to the Indian team in the last match and the Aussies would play like it was the first match of the series.
When asked about whether cricket was as popular in Australia as other sports, Ponting said it was the No. 1 sport there. "It is difficult to compare cricket in India with that in Australia," he said, adding there were many other sports like rugby which were popular in his home country.
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Ponting said cricket was big business in Australia and the recent successes of the team had helped boost its popularity but it was hard to compare with the scene in India which was the "Mecca of cricket."
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