Veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Sunday (June 14) revisited the controversial 2008 Sydney Test, saying Australia skipper Ricky Ponting acted like an umpire himself in that game.
Apart from a number of umpiring errors that probably cost India the match, the 2008 Sydney Test is also known for the 'MonkeyGate' scandal involving Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds.
"When I talk about the 2008 Test against Australia in Sydney, I think in that match, Ricky Ponting was the umpire himself, he was claiming catches and then was pronouncing the verdict, Australians say what happens on the ground should stay on the ground, but the incident that happened between me and Symonds went beyond the ground," Harbhajan said on the official YouTube channel of Aakash Chopra.
During the Test match, a verbal fight had broken out between Symonds and Harbhajan, which led to the controversy as the former alleged that the Turbanator passed a racist remark at him.
For the altercation with Symonds, Harbhajan was handed a three-match suspension by referee Mike Procter although the charges were downgraded on 29 January 2008 to the lesser charge of using abusive language and the ban was lifted.
"Me and Symonds were very close to each other, only Tendulkar was close to us, there was no one else close to us, when the hearing started, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, all these four said that they heard what Bhajji said to Symonds," Harbhajan stated.
"I thought you guys were nowhere near the picture, even Sachin Tendulkar did not know what actually transpired between me and Symonds, only both of us knew what we actually talked about, I was engulfed in a conspiracy, there was an enquiry and I was very scared as to what was happening with me. Australian media made me Michael Jackson, I was being constantly chased by cameras," he added.
Harbhajan also credited then captain Anil Kumble and the rest of the Indian team for standing by his side during the tough phase of his career.
