Mumbai Indians Owner Nita Ambani revealed how Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds resolved their differences and forged an unlikely friendship while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2011.
The infamous 'Monkeygate' incident during India's tour of Australia in 2008 became a major controversy when the Australian all-rounder accused Harbhajan of calling him a 'monkey' in the Sydney Test, a claim that the Indian spinner denied.
However, when the two found themselves playing for Mumbai Indians three years later, a team bonding session became the turning point in their equation.
'Harbhajan said something in Punjabi which Andrew Symonds heard as 'monkey' and a huge controversy erupted at that time and it was called the 'Monkeygate'. As luck would have had it, we had Harbhajan and Andrew playing for us for Mumbai Indians.' Nitaben said.
'In that bonding session we had all of them together, they sat and cleared out their differences, shook hands, hugged each other and became friends,' Nitaben recalled.
Harbhajan earlier spoke about how their bonding grew at MI, as they spent a lot of time together off the field.
'We used to eat together and sit together at night. The controversy between me and Symonds was blown out of proportion by the media. When we met, we never felt that there was any such animosity between us,' Bhajji.
Symonds tragically passed away in 2022 following a car accident in Queensland.
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