The decision by Anil Kumble, one no doubt ratified by the Indian board, to drop the charges of racial abuse against Brad Hogg is further evidence that India, for their part, are seeing sense again. The revelation that Hogg had called Kumble and MS Dhoni "bastards" on the final day of the Sydney Test was never anything more than a tit-for-tat counter-claim during Harbhajan Singh's disciplinary hearing for alleged racial vilification of Andrew Symonds.

Among other things, it was an expression of the Indians' frustration and anger in the immediate aftermath of defeat in the Sydney Test. That sense of injustice has now mellowed, very much for the greater good of the game, whose image has been harmed by Bollyline. The damage caused needs now to be addressed by the two warring countries, even if it may take considerable time for it fully to be repaired. If the BCCI's announcement over the weekend that it would accept the guilty verdict against Harbhajan, even if it is upheld on appeal, was the first step, then the ending of Hogg-gate was the second.

If common sense has at last broken out, then one cannot help wonder why Ricky Ponting did not get together with Kumble to sort out the unholy mess caused by Bollyline. Shortly after the two captains came together today in Perth under the soothing stewardship of Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC's chief referee and diplomat par excellence, Kumble made his peace offering. Perhaps, tensions were still running too high last week for Kumble to have made the concession. In any event, the Indian has come out of the whole sorry affair with a lot more credit than his Australian counterpart.

If Ponting really wants to regain much of the moral ground he has lost during and since Sydney, he could now withdraw his claims of racial vilification against Harbhajan when the appeal takes place. To do so, however, he will have to overcome the stubborn unsightly streak that is part of his character. The cricketing world waits with hope.