In a day of fast developments, with the International Cricket Council replacing umpire Steve Bucknor with Billy Bowden and charging Brad Hogg for offensive onfield behaviour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has told its counterpart, Cricket Australia, that the tour will go on.
For the last two days the tour has been in jeopardy over the stiff punishment for Harbhajan Singh on a racism charge and the poor umpiring standards in the second Test match at Sydney which the Indians believe did them in.
The Indian cricket board, before it began its' emergency meeting in New Delhi, informed Cricket Australia (CA) that the tour would go ahead, according to team sources.
The Indian Board softened its stance once controversial umpire Steve Bucknor was replaced by Billy Bowden and chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle was sent an SOS by the ICC to head for Australia and plaster over the cracks between the two sides.
The two opposing captains, Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, would be told in no uncertain terms that intemperate behaviour on the pitch or outside would not be tolerated from now on.
The BCCI has now agreed to fulfil its commitment and told CA that the meeting in New Delhi is only a formality, the sources said.
Accordingly, the visitors would now move to Canberra on Wednesday where a three-day game against ACT XI will begin from Thursday.
Meanwhile, Indians have pressed forward their complaint against left-arm spinner Brad Hogg for abusing Kumble during the final hours of the second Test.
ICC's chief executive Malcolm Speed has confirmed that Hogg would face a code of conduct charge in Perth.
The Indians have spent the last two days at their hotel in Sydney, refusing to leave for Canberra, till the issue of Harbhajan and Bucknor was dealt with quickly and firmly.
