‘They said you have testicles on your head’: Harbhajan Singh recalls infamous Monkeygate scandal

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh recently opened up on the infamous Monkeygate incident in Australia in 2008. Harbhajan was accused of hurling a racial slur at former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds and calling him ‘monkey’ during an altercation with him in the Sydney Test of India’s tour of Australia.

The incident happened at the end of the 116th over during India’s first innings. After facing the over from Brett Lee, Harbhajan, who was batting in the middle, had a word with Symonds on the other end of the pitch before all hell broke loose. While it appeared to be a regular heated exchange of words, it was later revealed that Australia had launched a complaint against Harbhajan with the umpires.

The umpires were seen giving a warning to Harbhajan for allegedly hurling racist comments at Symonds. The incident soon overshadowed the entire Test series as it became a major controversy in world cricket leading to Harbhajan facing a ban for one Test.

The incident almost led to the tour being called off as Harbhajan was charged for racial abuse. However, the spinner maintained he never used the word ‘monkey’ for Symonds and the line used was ‘Teri maa ki’ (Your mother…) in Hindi which was misunderstood as ‘monkey’. 

In the latest episode of ‘Backstage with Boria’, Harbhajan opened up on the infamous episode and revealed he was subjected to insulting comments by the Australian players which led to his reaction. Harbhajan said he was told he had ‘testicles on your head’ referring to his turban which left him infuriated.

“Obviously I was disturbed, I couldn’t understand why it was happening. Why was there so much of… for something that hadn’t happened. They had six or seven witnesses for something that I had not said. No one had heard it and yet it was blown out of proportion,” Harbhajan said on Backstage with Boria.

“The things that were said to me (while being) on the ground, ‘you have testicles on your head’, to hear such an insult towards my religion was the most difficult thing for me. I didn’t open my mouth then because if I did so, it would have resulted in more controversies,” he added.

Also Read: Virat Kohli not among India’s greatest captains, you live in an era where hype is more: Sanjay Manjrekar

Harbhajan said he knew he had the support and backing of the Indian players but didn’t want to burden anyone with what he was going through mentally. The former off-spinner said he was glad that he still played in the series and delivered for his team with the ball.

“Only I know how I spent time alone in my room during that difficult period. I didn’t try to talk much with the players or management. They were anyways backing me throughout the incident. I didn’t want to stress others with what I was going through. I had to deal with it in whatever way I could, and I am glad that I could and still go out there and play and win a few games for India in Australia,” said Harbhajan.

In his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar had also shared his views on the infamous Monkeygate scandal and revealed how Harbhajan’s comments were mistaken for the word ‘monkey’.

“I want to state very clearly that the incident arose because Andrew Symonds had been continually trying to provoke Bhajji and it was inevitable that the two would have an altercation at some point. While walking up to Bhajji to try to calm things down, I heard him say ‘Teri maa ki’ (Your mother…) to Symonds. It is an expression we often use in north India to vent our anger and to me it was all part of the game,” Sachin wrote in his book.