Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke were one of the best pairs for the Australian cricket team when they were at their peak. They helped Australia win numerous titles including the 2007 World Cup, and also saw Clarke becoming Australia's captain.
Simultaneously, Symonds was nearing the end of his career, and his relationship with Clarke had taken a terrible turn. It got to the point where stand-in captain Clarke had to send Symonds back from a one-day series because he skipped a team meeting and went fishing instead.
The ex-Australia captain claimed in 2008 that the Symonds had shown up inebriated for an ODI. Symonds, a hard-hitting allrounder, then chastised Clarke's leadership style in 2015, revealing the animosity between the two cricketers.
"Andrew Symonds went on TV to criticize my leadership. I'm sorry, but he is not a person to judge anyone on leadership. This is a guy who turned up drunk to play for his country. It's pretty rich for him to be throwing rocks," Clarke wrote in his 2015 Ashes Diary.
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Recently while appearing on the Brett Lee Podcast, Symonds claims that their friendship soured after he was offered a lucrative contract in the Indian Premier League. Symonds became the most expensive overseas player in the inaugural 2008 IPL when he was selected by Deccan Chargers for INR 5.4 crores.
"We became close. When he (Clarke) came into the side I used to bat with him a lot. So, when he came into the side I really looked after him. That built a bond. Matthew Hayden said to me — when the IPL started, I got a pretty penny to go and play in the IPL — he identified it as there was a bit of jealousy that potentially came into the relationship (with Clarke) there," Symonds told Lee on the hour-long podcast.
"I guess Money does funny things. It's a good thing but it can be a poison and I reckon it may have poisoned our relationship. I've got enough respect for him to probably not go into detail about what was said. My friendship with him is no longer and I'm comfortable with that, but I'm not gonna sit here and start slinging mud," Symonds said.
(With NDTV inputs)
