Symonds: Racist Taunts from Friends okay

Andrew Symonds, who took the cricket world by storm with the claim that Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh offended him with racial slur, now says that he would welcome racial taunts from friends who know him, but not from rivals. According to Symonds, friends too often call him "Monkey" and he just laughs at it. But he felt highly offended when a rival like Harbhajan passed the comment.

Just when India and Australia are trying to calm down the charging atmosphere and restore cordial relations, Symonds' latest statement added insult to India's injury. We have a question for Mike Procter, ICC, Cricket Australia and many others who defend Australian cricket team and Symonds. If racial comment is not allowed in cricket in any form, then how can Symonds say that he would take it lightly if that comes from a friend?

Symonds' statement clearly suggests that he had a personal vendetta against Harbhajan Singh while filing the complaint. Also, it would work in Harbhajan Singh's favor during the next hearing. For the time being, it seems a conspiracy was hatched against Harbhajan to make him sit out and hit Indian team's morale.