Rayudu and Harbhajan had an angry confrontation during an IPL 2016 match.
Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu have played together 8 years for Mumbai Indians from 2010 to 2017 and both the cricketers joined the franchise Chennai Super Kings in 2018, which makes 9 years of togetherness for them.
Just like any other friendship, there was a rough patch in their bonding too. The duo was involved in a verbal spat during Mumbai's encounter against Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016.
It was the 11th over of Pune's innings when Saurabh Tiwary smashed Harbhajan for a boundary. Unhappy with the effort, the off-spinner yelled at the fielder, Rayudu. He thought the ball could have been stopped.
However, the effort was there by Rayudu, but Harbhajan wasn't satisfied with it. In no time, the matter got worse when Rayudu yelled back to his teammate and soon both were walking towards each other in anger. Thankfully, things didn't go farther as the veteran bowler tried to cool down the situation.
After 2 years, both talked about the incident in a web show 'Bhajji Blast' hosted by Harbhajan. Rayudu, when reminded of the incident, said he was sorry for what happened. "I am still sorry for that day. I have said sorry so many times," he said. "I don't know why it happened," Rayudu said feeling sorry.
Harbhajan, who had apologized to his teammate on the field too, got it covered again. "No. no.. no.. No apologies.. You were not alone.. I have also done the same with my seniors. It happens But there are no grudges. I also went and said sorry ho gaya," he said.
Later in the show, the Andhra Pradesh cricketer lauded MS Dhoni's ability to stay calm. "When I had come to the Indian team, Dhoni bhai was the captain. Seeing him, I feel.. how can someone stay so calm?"
When asked if that helped his batting, Rayudu said: "No, I can't say that it helps my batting... because I have an aggressive instinct."
Bhajji joked, "Are you from Punjab?"