Calcutta, Nov. 25: Did Greg Chappell stick his middle finger out to a gathering outside Eden Gardens while boarding the bus after practice yesterday?

Television channels are showing such a picture, but Chappell’s face is not visible.

Wing Commander M. Baladitya, media manager for the Indian team, said when Chappell was told about the TV clip, the coach revealed that he had hurt his finger while giving fielding practice and must have been tending it while boarding the bus.

Baladitya, however, said neither he nor Chappell had seen the clip.

The footage shows a member of the Indian contingent boarding a bus and, having got inside, putting his right hand out with the middle finger sticking out.

The clip does not have any picture of the crowd towards whom one might have made such a gesture, but cries of “Go back Chappell” have been heard in and outside the Eden.

Only one TV production house has the picture, which it has distributed to mainline news channels.

No other journalist has seen a member of the Indian team making such a gesture after yesterday’s practice.

The Telegraph is publishing the picture without vouchsafing authenticity or otherwise.