Chandigarh, Mar 3 As off-spinner Harbhajan Singh found himself embrolied in yet another race row, his mother Avtar Kaur today said came to his defence, saying the off-spinner was being targetted by the Australians as he has been performing well Down Under.

"The Aussies fear him as a bowler. He has been bowling well against them. They want to keep him down somehow, which is why some controversy or the other is raked up," Kaur told PTI over phone from her Jalandhar residence.

Australian media reports claimed that Harbhajan Singh had made monkey gestures towards the Sydney crowd during the first final of the tri-series against Australia yesterday.

"I can say for sure that Harbhajan can never do any such thing which hurts the sentiments of an individual or a group," she said.

She said the hype was being created about the alleged incident in the Australian media because India were on the winning side.

"Our side has challenged their dominance in the game and now they are finding ways to hit back at us," she said.

The International Cricket Council today ruled out taking any action against Harbhajan in the latest incident due to lack of evidence.

Kaur said she has spoken to Harbhajan, who was involved in a racism row with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the Test series, and he told her that the whole thing had been blown out of proportion.

"Even then Harbhajan told me that the Aussie player used abusive language, but he restrained himself and did not reply in similar manner," she added. (Agencies)