Players rally round Bhajji

India's players have often been criticised for not standing up when it counted but on a day of high drama, they seemed to have done just that. They sent out a message saying they wouldn't leave Sydney until there was more clarity on the ban handed to Harbhajan Singh and decided to stick together through this crisis.
The players had a meeting that lasted close to two hours, where no member of the support staff was present, and they decided to stick firmly behind Harbhajan. They were hurt at the match referee's verdict and wouldn't accept the fact that one of their teammates had been branded a 'racist'.
The players, set to leave for Canberra at 10:30 am, sat in the coach for close to two hours before returning to their respective rooms in the Radisson Hotel. They spent the day mainly indoors, though many lingered in the lobby, chatting with one another. Harbhajan, who appeared once in a while, was cheerful while the rest waited to hear the future course of action.
A number of players were seen with their wives -- Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik and Sourav Ganguly. A tired Lalchand Rajput, the interim coach, spoke about how fatigued the players were: "[A] tough Test match, [and] a sleepless night after that." A number of the players used the day off to rest in their rooms, recuperating from what has been a charged few days.
The topics of discussion varied but did veer towards the contentious umpiring decisions in the game. Anil Kumble's strong statement at the end of the Test -- "Only one team is playing in the spirit of the game" -- was echoed by a number of players. The claiming of illegal catches was discussed, as were the scenes at the end of the game.