India to continue Australia tour - source

India's cricket tour of Australia will continue as scheduled after the sport's world governing body moved to defuse a snowballing crisis, a senior Indian official told AFP.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will announce the continuation of the tour at the end of its working committee meeting in New Delhi later on Tuesday, the sources said.

"The tour will go on, we never said it won't," a senior BCCI source said. "A formal announcement will be made tonight."

The tour was jeopardised after India objected to umpire Steve Bucknor standing in the series and match referee Mike Procter's decision to ban spinner Harbhajan Singh for three Tests on racial abuse charges.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) acceded to India's demand on Tuesday by replacing Jamaican Bucknor with New Zealand's Billy Bowden for the third Test starting in Perth on January 16.

India had demanded Bucknor's removal following umpiring errors in the second Test in Sydney which Australia won by 122 runs on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

The ICC's chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle of Sri Lanka will also be flown to Perth to "help the two captains in re-establishing an atmosphere of goodwill and mutual respect between the two teams," the ICC said.

The ICC also decided to appoint a Code of Conduct commissioner to adjudicate on India's appeal against Procter's decision to ban Harbhajan for alleged racist remarks against Australian player Andrew Symonds.

The ICC said Harbhajan will be allowed to play the final two Tests in Perth and Adelaide till the commissioner, who has yet to be named, had completed his inquiry.

The BCCI has vehemently denied that Harbhajan made any racist remarks and wanted the charges dropped.

Doubts over the tour arose after the BCCI ordered the Indian team to remain in Sydney and not proceed to Canberra for a practice match starting on Thursday till the ICC had acted.