Harbhajan, Symonds bat together without incident

Updated on: 19 April,2011 08:01 AM IST |
Harit N Joshi | sports@mid-day.com

There was no animosity, only camaraderie, when Mumbai Indians teammates Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds batted together in a practice match

There was no animosity, only camaraderie, when Mumbai Indians teammates Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds batted together in a practice match

A unique occurrence of Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds batting together was witnessed yesterday.

The two maverick Mumbai Indians cricketers, who were at loggerheads after Symonds had accused Bhajji of making a racist remark during the Sydney Test in 2008, batted together in a practice match for seven overs at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday.

In an interview last year, Symonds had said that the incidents following Monkeygate had sent him into depression and even propelled him to start drinking a bit more. Symonds said Harbhajan 'was lucky' to escape the controversy without a match ban.

Yesterday however, there was no animosity between the two. They even chatted between overs. Bhajji also applauded one of Symonds' shots that went for a six. And the camaraderie continued while they walked back to the dugout.

Many thought the two cricketers would never patch up after Monkeygate. When the Australian all-rounder was lapped up by Mumbai Indians during the players' auction for IPL-IV, many wondered whether the two would play together as teammates and share the dressing room like everybody else.

All such apprehensions were put to rest yesterday.

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