BCCI Secretary Jay Shah offered the first official response from the Indian cricket board on the Sydney racism row which has rocked the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
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Indian cricketers, especially pacer Mohammed Siraj, endured racist slurs from the crowd for a second successive day in the third Test against Australia in Sydney, causing a brief halt in the fourth day's play, expulsion of some spectators from the ground and an all-round condemnation of the incidents.
The 26-year-old, on his maiden tour Down Under, followed the protocol and promptly went up to his skipper Ajinkya Rahane and the on-field umpires, who halted play for about 10 minutes and called in the security, which evicted six people.
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Hours after the end of the day's play, Shah revealed that he has spoken to Cricket Australia and said the two cricket boards stand together against racism.
"I've spoken to @CricketAus and they have ensured strict action against the offenders. @BCCI and Cricket Australia stand together. These acts of discrimination will not be tolerated," he tweeted, tagging BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, who is recovering after undergoing an angioplasty a few days back.
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Earlier, CA apologised to India and assured strict action against the offenders.
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"As series hosts, we unreservedly apologise to our friends in the Indian cricket team and assure them we will prosecute the matter to its fullest extent," said Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia's Head of Integrity and Security, in a press release affirming zero tolerance to racism.
"Once those responsible are identified, CA will take the strongest measures possible under our Anti-Harassment Code, including lengthy bans, further sanctions and referral to NSW (New South Wales) Police," he added.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) also condemned the incidents and sought an action taken report from the host country's cricket board.
"The International Cricket Council (ICC) has strongly condemned reported incidents of racism during the ongoing third Test match between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground and have offered Cricket Australia all necessary support in investigating the incidents," the apex body said in a statement.
ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney reiterated the ICC's zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind.
"There is no place for discrimination in our sport and we are incredibly disappointed that a small minority of fans may think that this abhorrent behaviour is acceptable.
"We have a comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Policy in place that Members have to abide by and ensure is adhered to by fans and we welcome the action taken by ground authorities and Cricket Australia today.
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"We will provide Cricket Australia and the relevant authorities with our full support in any ensuing investigation as we will not tolerate any racism in our sport."
