“Best friends can become strangers” – Harbhajan Singh drops cryptic post a day after his comments on ex-India skipper

Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh shared a cryptic post on social media on Wednesday (December 4). The reaction came a day after his comments on former India skipper MS Dhoni. The legendary off-spinner had said he hasn’t spoken to Dhoni in over 10 years, barring his on-field conversations during his stint with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Harbhajan Singh then took to X to write:

“Strangers can become best friends just as easy as best friends can become strangers....”

Speaking to News18, Harbhajan had said:

“I don’t speak to Dhoni. When I was playing at CSK, that’s when we spoke, but otherwise, we haven’t spoken. It’s been 10 years and more. I have no reason; perhaps he does. I don’t know what the reasons are.”

“When we were playing in the IPL at CSK, that’s when we used to talk, and that, too, was restricted to the ground. After that, he did not come to my room, nor did I go to his,” he added.

Harbhajan Singh further said he had nothing against MS Dhoni but believed in a two-way conversation. In the same interaction, he said:

“A relationship is always about give and take. If I respect you, I hope you will respect me back. Or you respond to me. But if I call you once or twice but don’t get a response, I will probably only meet you as much as I am needed to.”

“I don’t have anything against him. If he has something to say, he can tell me. But if he did, he would have told me by now. I never tried to call him because I have a lot of passion. I only ring up those who pick up my calls. I don’t have the time otherwise. I stay in touch with the ones I am friends with,” he added.

“I would have taken 500-550 wickets” – When Harbhajan Singh took an indirect dig at MS Dhoni

Harbhajan Singh, who finished his career with 417 Test wickets, had taken an indirect dig at MS Dhoni in 2021. Speaking to Dainik Jagran, he had said (via Crictoday):

“As long as there is support, it feels great. However, I would say that if the support had come at the right time, I would have taken 500-550 wickets long ago because when I was 31 years old, I had taken 400 wickets, and if I had played for three-four more years, I would have taken 500-550 wickets.”

Harbhajan Singh was phased out of the India squad under MS Dhoni’s captaincy after the 2011 ODI World Cup. Ravichandran Ashwin replaced him as the front-line spinner. Harbhajan played his last match for India in March 2016.