Racist e-mail scandal disappointing: Gilchrist

Former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist on Saturday termed the racist e-mail scandal involving his country's police officers "very disappointing", but claimed that Indian students Down Under are "positive" about their stay.

"If it (racist e-mail) is a recent news, as we will try to find it out, and if it is proven to be correct then it is very disappointing," Gilchrist said.

The cricketer said the Australian government has taken up the recent racial incidents against Indians "seriously".

"It needs to be taken seriously. Our government and the education sector have certainly addressed it. Indian students there have been very positive about being in Australia and on (university) campuses. They feel safe," Gilchrist told a television channel.

Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday summoned Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese and sought an explanation on the issue in which top Victorian police officers have been caught in a racist e-mail scandal joking about the electrocution of an Indian train passenger.

Gilchrist said Australia is trying to ensure that no racial incidents occur. "We have to work together to try and ensure that these incidents do not re-occur. I think we are trying to do that."

We'll try to remove North early: Sehwag

Left-handed batsman Marcus North is in good touch and India would try to remove him early on Sunday to restrict Australia to a moderate first innings score in the second cricket Test, said opener Virender Sehwag.

"He (North) is playing well in this match and this is also his second Test against India. At this moment, he looks competitive and tomorrow morning, we will try to get him out as quickly as possible," Sehwag told a press conference after the day's play.

The opening batsman said their strategy would be to skittle out the visitors as quickly as possible so that they get to bat for a longer time.

"That is our team strategy. As of now, the ball is coming up slowly to the bat and hopefully the wicket will get better as the match progresses. Perhaps on third and fourth day, it would dry enough and the ball will come nicely onto the bat," he said.

Captain Ricky Ponting's 77 helped the visitors reach 285 for five in the opening day of the match before the play was called off due to bad light after 85.5 overs. North remained unbeaten on 43.

Sehwag also defended the decision to rest VVS Laxman, saying the right-handed batsman was not fully fit.

"We tested him this morning and he said the back is still stiff and we did not want to take any chances. If something goes wrong and he cannot continue, then we would not get a fielder for Laxman. So it was a good decision to not to play him," he said.

The swashbuckler batsman also praised Suresh Raina, who got the big breakthrough in the form of Ponting in the post-tea session.

"The wicket that Suresh Raina took to dismiss Ricky Ponting today was the best amongst the five wickets that we could garner. We started off well but at one stage during the tea session, we thought they would score around six runs an over but we are happy to restrict them," Sehwag said.

On playing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, he said, "We are always happy playing before the supportive Bangalore crowd and I am sure they could come in good number like today for all five days."

Talking about the pitch, Sehwag was of the opinion that the strip is wet and the side portions are not fully dry. "May be it would get better," he said.

Asked whether they would celebrate senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar's feat of surpassing 14,000 runs (he is 27 runs short of the mark), Sehwag said, "We always celebrate his feats and new marks and that would be continued in the dressing room and the practice."

Meanwhile, Australian opener Shane Watson credited Ponting and North for chipping in with valuable runs.

"Marcus started his innings well. It is a nice batting wicket and he has been doing a good job getting useful runs for the team," he said.

"Ricky also batted very well today. It was disappointing that he could not get a big one. He was playing so beautifully but unfortunately losing wicket after batting so well will be frustrating. He held on well with (Mike) Hussey and Marcus North very well," he added.

Asked whether he was satisfied with his own batting, Watson said, "I could have scored a century-plus runs here as it is a very good batting strip. It is disappointing.

"But, we are sure that we will be able to post a good total in sub-continental conditions, close to the one that we did in Mohali," he added.

He predicted that the pitch may remain good for batting in the days to come. "At this moment, the pitch is nice to bat on and will swing and carry through."

2nd Test: Aus 478, India lose early wickets

Australia rode on a fine century by Marcus North to get to 478 in their first innings on day two of the second Test against India at Bangalore on Sunday.

Resuming on 285, both the overnight batsmen, North and Tim Paine frustrated the Indian bowlers with a 128-run stand for the sixth wicket in a lop-sided session.

For the second successive day, Australia, who trail the series 1-0, dominated the morning session, scoring freely without loss.

North played with maturity and looked solid both against the pacers and spinners. He slog-swept Pragyan Ojha for the first six of the match.

Paine's was a slightly more eventful knock in which he struck two fours off an S Sreesanth over and was caught behind off a no-ball by the pacer before he brought up his second Test 50 with a cheeky boundary off Ojha.

BCCI likely to scrap three IPL teams

BCCI chief Shashank Manohar has called in for an emergency meeting of the Indian Premier League's Governing Council on Sunday and there are reports that the meeting may be death blow for three of the franchises. According to sources, the BCCI is likely to scrap three IPL teams - Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and Kochi.

The trio have failed to produce sufficient documents regarding their franchise. Kochi has already missed its final deadline.

Show-cause notices have already been sent to Kochi, Rajasthan and Punjab for the ownership row and other alleged irregularities. The BCCI has made it clear that franchises have to be owned by companies and not individuals.

Bangalore Test: Ponting leads Australian charge

Electing to bat, Australia were 95 for no loss in their first innings at lunch on day one of the second and final cricket Test against India at M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

Shane Watson (54) and Simon Katich (39) were at crease for the visitors at the break.

The hero of the first Test VVS Laxman, who led India to a victory against Australia at Mohali, was left out of the team for the second Test. India have brought in Cheteshwar Pujara as his replacement, along with Murali Vijay and S Sreesanth in place of Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma.

Laxman, despite a nagging back problem, had scored an unbeaten 73 to ensure his team came through the tense final moments of the Mohali Test.