BJP wants series pull-out if bans unfair

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants the national cricket team to pull out of their South Africa tour if penalties imposed on six Indian players stemmed from racial discrimination, it said on Wednesday.

"If racial discrimination against the players is proved, India should not play there (South Africa)," BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told a news conference. "It's a very serious matter."

But Malhotra said the BJP-led coalition government would not interfere. "The government has no role to play, it's the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which has to decide."

Match referee Mike Denness on Tuesday imposed fines and bans on six Indian players, including national icon Sachin Tendulkar in the drawn second Test in Port Elizabeth.

Tendulkar was given a suspended one-match ban and was fined after Denness found him guilty of doctoring the ball.

Batsman Virender Sehwag received a one-match ban for "excessive appealing", while captain Saurav Ganguly, Shiv Sundar Das, Deep Dasgupta and Harbhajan Singh got suspended one-match bans for "bringing the game into disrepute" for similar behaviour.

The BCCI has strongly condemned the referee's decisions, arguing that they were too harsh and that Tendulkar was cleaning the ball, not doctoring it. The board has also asked for Denness to be removed from the third Test and the bans to be reviewed.

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