A local court in Chandigarh admitted a criminal complaint against cricketer Harbhajan Singh and TV actress Mona Singh for hurting the sentiments of Hindus and Sikhs by their performance in a reality T.V. dance show.

The court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate here listed proceedings of the case for next Monday.

Harbhajan Singh and Mona Singh, both Sikhs had appeared on the show, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena on Colors channel dressed up as Mythological characters Ravana and Sita and performed a dance number. This has irked both Hindu and Sikh groups which have demanded apologies from both performers.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have issued a fresh warning to the Indian players threatening them with severe action if advertisements involving them and flouting the ambush marketing clause continued.

On Friday, lawyers representing the ICC’s commerical arm brought to the Indian team-management’s attention ads being aired by Samsung India Electronics Limited, a rival of LG Electronics, an official sponsor of the 2003 World Cup.

“It is extremely regrettable that the IDI (ICC Development International) has been compelled to interrupt the Indian players and management during the tournament to address this problem,” ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said in a statement issued to explain the action.

The nature of Indian cricket makes it inevitable that much optimism - however unwarranted - is attendant upon each of the team’s fixtures. Coming off a pathos-filled tour of New Zealand? Struggled inordinately against the Netherlands? No matter - against Australia at the SuperSport Park, the fans reason, India will come good. They always have done against top-flight opposition before, haven’t they?

One man contributed much to the reasoning behind this optimism - misplaced, as it transpired. Sachin Tendulkar’s record against Australia, especially in big matches, is majestic, and when he walked out to open with Sourav Ganguly after India won the toss, it was difficult to not recall previous explosive Tendulkar-Australia contests in hungry anticipation.