Harbhajan Singh Says People Will Know His Side Of ‘Monkeygate’ Controversy In Upcoming Autobiography | Cricket News

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all formats of cricket on Friday. Harbhajan, who made his international debut in 1998, last played for India in March, 2016 in a T20I. He retires from the game as one of India’s most successful bowlers, finishing with 417 wickets in Tests, 269 in ODIs and 25 in T20Is. He won the 2007 ICC WT20, the 2011 ICC World Cup and was an integral part of the Indian Test team that went on to reach the top of ICC rankings for the first time.

Harbhajan has had a storied career as a player, as he went on to achieve great feats and helped India win several matches. Among all the highs in his career, there is also an episode that the player might not recall very fondly. Harbhajan was at the centre of a massive controversy during India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08, which later came to be known as the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting had complained to on-field umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson that Harbhajan had apparently called Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds “monkey”. The on-field umpires reported the matter to match referee Mike Proctor, who, after a hearing, found Harbhajan guilty of racial abuse and handed him a three-match ban.

The entire incident blew up into a huge controversy as the Indian team management was unhappy with the verdict as it maintained that Harbhajan had not used a racial slur and that the Australians misunderstood a Hindi phrase that the spinner had used.

The racism charge against Harbhajan was eventually dropped as Justice John Hansen did not find enough evidence which could prove that Harbhajan was guilty of racial abuse. He was instead charged with a level 2.8 offence, which stood for abuse and insult not amounting to racism. Harbhajan pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined 50 per cent of his match fee.

Speaking about that incident in an interview with news agency PTI after announcing his retirement, Harbhajan said that people would get to know his side of the story in his upcoming autobiography.

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“No one cared about my side of the truth in the whole episode. No one cared what I went through in those few weeks and how I was mentally sinking. I have never extensively given my side of the story but people will know about it in my upcoming autobiography. What I went through shouldn’t have happened to anyone,” Harbhajan told PTI.

India bounced back from the incident to win the Perth Test but eventually lost the series 2-1. India though would go on to win the triangular ODI series that followed, with Harbhajan being an integral part of the team.