Australian board taking Hayden remarks 'seriously'

NEW DELHI: Cricket Australia (CA) has assured the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that they are taking the matter of Mathew Hayden's offensive remarks against Harbhajan Singh seriously and looking into the matter.

"Cricket Australia have assured us that they are taking the matter seriously. We have left it to them to take note of it and they will take necessary steps in this regard," BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla said on Wednesday.

CA held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning on Hayden calling Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh 'an obnoxious little weed' which has triggered a fresh controversy in the ongoing series Down Under.

"It was not appropriate for a senior player like him (Hayden) to use such words. We have left the matter to the team management and have asked them to tell our players not to react to it," Shukla said.

India's ongoing tour to Australia survived a torrid time when Andrew Symonds alleged Harbhajan Singh had hurled racial abuse at him, which sparked off a row that not only threatened the tour but split the cricketing world like never before.