Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has come forward to deny a claim that he had broke down while apologizing to Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds for ‘monkeygate’.
Former Australia all-rounder had been speaking to Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee for a documentary which will go on air on Monday.
This is what Symonds said about the unsavoury incident from more than 10 years ago.
“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 said in Monkeygate: Ten Years On.
“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’.”
The former Australia allrounder has opened up on the impact of the incident at Sydney ten years ago
Harbhajan took to Twitter on Sunday and questioned what Andrew Symonds had said. This is what the former India spinner wrote. “WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN ??? BROKE DOWN ???? WHAT FOR??? Harbhajan broke down when apologising for ‘monkeygate’”
It initially appeared as if Harbhajan was not denying that he apologised but the fact that he didn’t break down while apologizing.
Though later he came out with another tweet that seemed to suggest totally disagreeing with what Symonds has said in the documentary. “I thought he was a very good cricketer but Symonds has turned out to be a good fiction writer - he sold a story then (2008) and he is ‘selling a story’ now (2018). Mate, the world has come of age in these 10 years and it’s time you also grew up,” the tweet read.
Harbhajan who made headlines in the 2001 Test series against Australia also had some harsh words to say about former West Indies fast bowler Tino Best who in effect called him cocky.