AUSTRALIA's tour of India threatened to unravel when captain Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee turned on each other in a second Test gone horribly wrong.
The ugly spat came on a day when Australia plunged towards defeat at the PCA Stadium, having been set the daunting challenge of needing 516 runs to win or surviving a day and a half to avoid falling behind in the four-match series.
The tourists will resume at 5-141, with Michael Clarke (42 not out) and Brad Haddin (37 not out) providing some resistance with an 83-run stand late on day four.
The pair was left to pick up the pieces after a stunning collapse of 5-9 in nine overs inspired by Harbhajan Singh.
The prickly spinner had Matthew Hayden (29) lbw and Simon Katich (20) caught at short point in the last over before tea, and continued the carnage soon after the break with the scalp of Mike Hussey (1).
But Harbhajan and pace bowler Zaheer Khan could find themselves in hot water with match referee Chris Broad investigating the over-the-top celebration they joined when arch-rival Hayden was trapped lbw.
Hayden, however, has more pressing worries as he has only 42 runs in four innings this series.
Ponting's wretched day continued when red-hot paceman Ishant Sharma jagged one between his defensive bat and pad. Sharma then increased the pressure, trapping Shane Watson (2) lbw.
Ponting had earlier found himself in an ugly and public war of words with Lee as India continued to dominate the morning session.
Lee couldn't believe he wasn't bowled in the opening two hours of play - and made his feelings known to Ponting.
Lee, already miffed that part-timer Mike Hussey had been used ahead of him, blew a fuse when Ponting again turned to leg-spinner Cameron White on the cusp of lunch when debutant quick Peter Siddle had finished his first spell.
Standing at mid-off after Siddle's final over, Lee clearly questioned why he had been ignored, provoking an animated and seemingly detailed response from Ponting.
Tensions rose dramatically five balls later when White had centurion Gautam Gambhir caught at mid-off and the tourists stopped for drinks. Lee at one stage appeared to walk away from the chatting Ponting, who followed him in a semi-circle back to the drinks cooler.
The terse exchange continued when Australian cricket's fourth-highest wicket-taker made his way back to mid-off after the break.
Ponting had clearly lost confidence in Lee with the blond paceman last night nursing woeful series figures of four wickets at 59.25 off 75 overs in two Tests.
Ponting opened the day with the medium-pace of Shane Watson and White, before turning to Mitchell Johnson and Siddle.
Then came the surprise move of introducing Hussey, who had been wicketless in the 11 overs he had previously bowled in 27 Tests.
Lee, who turns 32 next month, was belatedly given the ball after lunch but there was little comfort for him when he had a slogging Sourav Ganguly caught at point.
The 70-Test veteran, with match figures of 2-147, now faces a fight to retain his place for next week's third Test in Delhi.
Siddle impressed on debut with four wickets and deserves to retain his place, meaning if Stuart Clark has recovered from an elbow injury he could ease Lee out of the team.
Lee has not had any impact with the new and old balls, and Australia's lack of reverse swing has become a major issue.
While Lee licks his wounds, he can take some solace in knowing he isn't the first fast bowler to be ignored by Ponting during his captaincy reign.
Jason Gillespie experienced similar treatment at Manchester on the 2005 Ashes tour, although there was no on-field blow-up that time.
There have been on-field spats between captains and bowlers through the years, but only Allan Border's "go home" threat to Craig McDermott at Somerset on the 1993 Ashes have been as public.
Ponting's fuse had earlier been lit when umpire Asad Rauf wrongly rejected an appeal for caught behind against opener Virender Sehwag.
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