5 Australian cricketers Indians love to hate

#2 Andrew Symonds

The Monkeygate incident threatened to strain India-Aus ties like never before

Always associated with controversies on the cricket field, Andrew Symonds sometimes projected himself to be a compulsive sledger, going a tad bit too far with his verbal duels.

The infamous Monkeygate incident saw Symonds being the centre of a controversy that threatened to strain India-Australia ties like never before.

During the Sydney Test in the 2007-08 series, Harbhajan Singh got a thick edge off a Brett Lee delivery that flew over the slips for a boundary. While Bhajji patted Lee on the back saying hard luck to him, Symonds decided to interfere, and the stump mic recorded him saying “We don’t need it, do it to your own teammates”.

Harbhajan said something that sounded to the Australians like a racial slur. Although Tendulkar, the non-striker, assured the Aussies that it was just a slang, a complaint was filed, and the match referee held the decision in favour of Australia, in a way deeming Tendulkar to be a liar.

The mention of the acrimonious Australian tour in 07-08 brings back memories of that unpleasant incident for the Indian fans.