The veteran Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh shared some intriguing facts about the infamous 2008 Test against Australia, saying in that match, Ricky Ponting acted like an umpire himself. The 2008 Sydney Test has been known for all wrong reasons as Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds clashed on the field and there were many umpiring errors which most likely cost India the match.
During a chat with Aakash Chopra, Harbhajan said, “When I talk about the 2008 Test against Australia in Sydney, I think in that match, Ricky Ponting was the umpire himself, he was claiming catches and then was pronouncing the verdict, Australians say what happens on the ground should stay on the ground, but the incident that happened between me and Symonds went beyond the ground.”
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In the match, Ricky Ponting had claimed the catch of Sourav Ganguly in the second innings. The umpires were not sure as to whether it was a clean catch or not, but Ponting had raised his finger, signalling it’s out. Ganguly was dismissed, and the on-air commentator Sunil Gavaskar was also miffed with Ponting’s behavior.
During the 2008 Test, Symonds alleged that Harbhajan had passed a racist remark upon him and since then, the incident is known as ”MonkeyGate”.
Recalling the same, Bhajji said, “Me and Symonds were very close to each other, only Tendulkar was close to us, there was no one else close to us, when the hearing started, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, all these four said that they heard what Bhajji said to Symonds.”
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He further added, “I thought you guys were nowhere near the picture, even Sachin Tendulkar did not know what actually transpired between me and Symonds, only both of us knew what we actually talked about, I was engulfed in a conspiracy, there was an enquiry and I was very scared as to what was happening with me. Australian media made me Michael Jackson, I was being constantly chased by cameras.”
Harbhajan also credited the then skipper Anil Kumble for leading the team and supporting him when the going got real tough. He said that Kumble along with the entire Indian side assured him of constant support.
