The Indian Premier League (IPL) is making the impossible look possible. Nobody would have thought of Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh coming together especially after the Monkeygate in Sydney, 2008. However, the two will now share the same dressing room after Mumbai Indians bought the Australian all-rounder for $850,000 during the Saturday's auction in Bangalore.
Harbhajan was already a retained player by the Mumbai franchise
The two have been involved in a vicious on-field spat after Symonds accused the Indian off-spinner of racially abusing him by calling him "monkey" in the controversial Sydney Test which India ended up losing. Bhajji was then banned for three matches by the International Cricket Council. But his ban was overturned on appeal, leading to much acrimony among players of both teams. Symonds, in particular, has found hard to move on after the incident.
He recently reopened wounds of Monkeygate in his autobiography saying that Bhajji should have been punished for the Sydney incident and he contemplated quitting after the controversy.
"By the end of the season, I didn't want to see another cricket ball or
bat. I had had enough ” I was physically tired and mentally worn down," he wrote.
Harbhajan reacted strongly in an interview with MiD DAY: "It is quite silly if he feels that way. Whatever happened (at the time) was in front of others and things were buried fairly. It is a thing of the past now. We all need to move on. If I was wrong at the time, I would have been punished. Nobody escapes from mistakes."
Alcohol issue
Earlier, Symonds in an interview blamed Bhajji for his alcohol problem as well. He was sent back home on the eve of the World Twenty20 competition in England after a drinking incident in violation of a ban on alcohol consumption. "When I saw that interview recently, I laughed very hard because he kept blaming me for drinking a lot. It is very wrong on his part to say that. I was also involved in that incident, but that clearly shows it is important to be strong enough to make a comeback.
"It is not fair to blame others. We are all mature individuals. Nobody stopped anyone from playing cricket and it hurts when Symonds blames me for ending his career. I just want him to grow up and become mentally stronger. I just want to bury the hatchet with him," Harbhajan had told MiD DAY in an interview.
However, the two will have to kiss and make up in the best interests of the team, as if they had another option.
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Andrew Symonds (left) and Harbhajan Singh |
The two have been involved in a vicious on-field spat after Symonds accused the Indian off-spinner of racially abusing him by calling him "monkey" in the controversial Sydney Test which India ended up losing. Bhajji was then banned for three matches by the International Cricket Council. But his ban was overturned on appeal, leading to much acrimony among players of both teams. Symonds, in particular, has found hard to move on after the incident.
He recently reopened wounds of Monkeygate in his autobiography saying that Bhajji should have been punished for the Sydney incident and he contemplated quitting after the controversy.
"By the end of the season, I didn't want to see another cricket ball or
bat. I had had enough ” I was physically tired and mentally worn down," he wrote.
Harbhajan reacted strongly in an interview with MiD DAY: "It is quite silly if he feels that way. Whatever happened (at the time) was in front of others and things were buried fairly. It is a thing of the past now. We all need to move on. If I was wrong at the time, I would have been punished. Nobody escapes from mistakes."
Alcohol issue
Earlier, Symonds in an interview blamed Bhajji for his alcohol problem as well. He was sent back home on the eve of the World Twenty20 competition in England after a drinking incident in violation of a ban on alcohol consumption. "When I saw that interview recently, I laughed very hard because he kept blaming me for drinking a lot. It is very wrong on his part to say that. I was also involved in that incident, but that clearly shows it is important to be strong enough to make a comeback.
"It is not fair to blame others. We are all mature individuals. Nobody stopped anyone from playing cricket and it hurts when Symonds blames me for ending his career. I just want him to grow up and become mentally stronger. I just want to bury the hatchet with him," Harbhajan had told MiD DAY in an interview.
However, the two will have to kiss and make up in the best interests of the team, as if they had another option.
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