Brad Hogg's slur not racist

MELBOURNE: Brad Hogg could be let off with a lighter punishment as the word 'b*****d' allegedly used by him during the ill-tempered Sydney Test was not nominated by Anil Kumble among the racially offensive terms before the start of the series, a media report claimed.

Under the ICC's anti-racism code, the touring team is asked to advise the match referee of terms regarded as offensive in its culture but Kumble did not nominate 'b*****d' as an offensive label, a Sydney Morning Herald report said.

Hogg had been charged by Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan of having said Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni that he was 'looking forward to running through you b*****ds'.

The Australian spinner will appear for a hearing before match referee Mike Procter in Perth, likely on Monday evening.

By contrast, the newspaper said, the word 'monkey', which Harbhajan has been accused of using against Andrew Symonds was identified in the pre-series agreement as off-limits.

Hogg, who has been charged under level three offence of the ICC Code of Conduct, faces a ban of between two and four Tests unless his defence can successfully have the charge downgraded to a level one offence, or the Australians can get it dropped, the report added.

The visitors though will argue that the word is insulting because it has connotation of being born out of wedlock, a highly sensitive topic in Indian culture.