Matt, Symmo think they are bigger than the game: Harbhajan Singh

Bhajji reveals that his mock bout with Yuvi was aimed at Hayden’s invite to Ishant for a boxing contest

MUMABI: For Harbhajan Singh, it has been an exhausting and exhilarating tour of Australia. He has returned as the most famous Sikh in the world — a hero to over a billion, a pantomime villain to the few Down Under.

“What a tour! We won the ODIs. We played better cricket than the so-called ‘best team in the world’,” he told DNA from his home in Jalandhar. “I am grateful to the entire team, Sachin, Dhoni and the rest. And to our cricket board. They stood by me.”
Bhajji, always a favourite of the media, for his bhangra bravado and comic remarks, became an abhorrent pest overnight, written off as the worst-behaved cricketer in the world.

“It was difficult. I was on the front page of the papers, news channels, being called racists. There was no mention anywhere of the treatment I was meted out at every Australian ground. I would turn around to crowds booing me, showing me the middle finger, saying things you can’t even imagine.”

Yet it seemed he enjoyed the challenge. “I was getting under the Australians’ skins. They would boo me and I would go and bowl a good over, get a wicket. So it would annoy them even more. Yes, I enjoyed that. I was beating them at their own game.”
The big bully was getting the taste of its own medicine.

“The Australians are just very arrogant. Guys like Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and even Ricky Ponting. Hayden and Symonds never tried to talk to me so even I didn’t bother. They think that they are bigger than the game. We let the reality bite,” he said. “Ponting said there will be only two finals. So we gave him that.”

The Aussies were rattled. Something this Indian team did right. “We wanted to fight it out on the field. They took it beyond, so we were game for it,” he said. “However, we never crossed out limits. I could have gone and said various things in the papers. But it was better to stay calm and give them the answer on the cricket field. We were tough and we played tough cricket.”

Harbhajan said that it’s an ‘Aussie thing’ to do when they can’t sort out a player or a team. “Ishant Sharma was the bowler of the series and he had the Aussies on the mat.

He was bowling superbly. I have never seen such a young player bowl so well so consistently in my ten-year career. What do they do to him? Matthew Hayden challenges him to a boxing bout. Why doesn’t he go fight somebody his own size? So that little boxing bout me and Yuvraj had on the field was for Ishant.”

However, Harbhajan wasn’t more forthcoming when asked to solve the biggest mystery of the tour and reveal what he really said to Andrew Symonds. “That’s in the past. I don’t want to talk about it. I was cleared and that’s how it stands.”

Monkey or maa ki, the debate continues.

So is it time for revenge, now that the Australians will be coming to India to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) which begins on April 18? “I hope they get a ‘good welcome’ while they are here.”

Talking about welcome, it has been a family affair ever since Harbhajan has come back. “The visitors keep coming and congratulating me and saying how proud they are. I remind them, it’s not my victory, it’s the team’s victory. I have tried to keep it as quiet at  home as possible. We did all the dancing and celebrating on the ground. Now I just want to relax.”

And besides the upcoming South Africa series, Harbhajan has another thing to look forward to. His new Hummer. “I will soon have my baby. It’ll take a couple of months to arrive though. I can’t wait to drive it around the country.”