Harbhajan Singh denies Andrew Symonds’ claim of ‘monkeygate’ apologies

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Harbhajan Singh has denied the claims of Andrew Symonds that the off-spinner had broken down crying and apologised privately for the ‘monkeygate’ controversy during the Sydney Test in 2008. The Aussie had said that the incident had an adverse effect on his career and made him alcoholic.

Symonds had claimed that Harbhajan apologised for the racial abuse that he made against the former all-rounder during the Sydney Test back in 2008. The Aussie cricketer had said that they were teammates in the Mumbai Indians franchise for the Indian Premier League and Harbhajan broke down crying while apologising for the ugly incident which led to a huge uproar during India’s tour Down Under 10 years back. 

“We go to a very wealthy man’s place for a barbecue, drinks and dinner one night and the whole team’s there and he had guests there, and Harbhajan said ‘mate, can I speak to you for a minute out in the garden out the front’,” Symonds told Fox Sports.

“He goes, ‘look, I’ve got to say sorry to you for what I did to you in Sydney. I apologise, I hope I didn’t cause you, your family, your friends too much harm and I really apologise for what I said, I shouldn’t have said it’. And he actually broke down crying, and I could just see that was a huge weight off his shoulders, he had to get rid of it. We shook hands and I gave him a hug and said: ‘Mate, it’s all good. It’s dealt with’,” Symonds told AFP reporters.

After Symonds’ comments, Harbhajan rubbished the claims on Sunday and took to Twitter to clarify that nothing of that sort happened in the past.  

Harbhajan was handed a ban for three matches as he was charged for racial abuse but the decision was overturned later after India’s warning of quitting the Australia tour. The all-rounder had further mentioned that the Sydney incident had a very bad impact on his cricket career and also affected his personal life.

“I suppose this would be the moment where my whole persona to cricket changed. I didn’t realise how powerful one player, one incident, how much money was at stake and the ramifications,” Symonds added. 

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