Sri Lanka would have quit if Bhajji wasn't cleared

SYDNEY: Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC), counted as one of the strongest ally of the Indian cricket board, would have also pulled out of the upcoming triangular one-day international series if off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was found guilty of the racial abuse charges, the media reported here Wednesday.

Before Harbhajan was cleared Tuesday, SLC chairman and World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga said that his board would "wait to see what happens" before making a decision on whether to fulfil its touring commitments in Australia.

SLC chief executive Duleep Mendis also said that the board was awaiting the result of the hearing.

SLC secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan was an outspoken critic of the initial International Cricket Council (ICC) code-of-conduct hearing, at which Harbhajan was banned for three Tests by match referee Mike Procter for allegedly calling Andrew Symonds a 'monkey'.

Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss too admitted on Tuesday that talk of an Indian withdrawal had circulated around his team members, but he had been given no instruction as to what his board's reaction would have been if such a move had taken place.