Sledging, referring to intentionally insulting or passing derogatory remarks towards the opposite team is a common practice in most of the sports played across the world. But there have been instances where sledging has crossed all the limits and has turned into scandals.
The world of cricket has faced its share of scandals, whether it would be the Australian Sandpapergate scandal in 2018, the spot-fixing scandal of Pakistan, or the match-fixing scandal of IPL. Cricketers have been in the news for various reasons and that includes their involvement in unfair and unethical practices.
This is the story of the infamous Monkeygate scandal which took place in Sydney, Australia, during a test match between India and Australia.
Events prior to the incident.
India was brutally beaten by the Australian side in the first test of the Indian tour of Australia in 2008. Australia had beaten India by a whooping margin of 344 runs. The team led by captain Anil Kumble, was determined to give a better performance in the upcoming test but who knew it was going to become a test famous for something else?
The second test match of the Indian tour of Australia in 2008, is famous for the unfair umpiring by the on-field umpire Steve Bucknor who is believed to give a bunch of decisions, all in the favour of the home team, whether it would be declining the appeal for caught behind for Ricky Ponting at the score of 45/2 or another appeal of caught behind for Andrew Symonds at the score of 191/6.
The Australian Innings
The Australian team then went on to record a mammoth score of 463 in the first inning, giving the Indian team a mountain of runs to climb after. The Indian team believed that whether it would not have been for the incorrect decisions by the on-field umpire, they would have succeeded to finish the Australian innings under a score of 300.
The Indian innings
Then it comes time for the Indian team to chase after the mammoth task at hand. Centuries from Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman and a fifty from Sourav Ganguly led India to cross the 450-run mark and India was on the verge of getting a run lead over their Australian counterparts, but things changed suddenly.
The incident
It was during the 115th over of the Indian inning. Brett Lee’s amazing deliveries were asking the Indian batsmen quite tough questions as it was down to the tail end of the team. It was the end of the over when Harbhajan went to the other side of the pitch. What followed was a verbal altercation between Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds which seemed to be a normal one at the time of its happening.
But soon all hell broke loose. Both the umpires along with Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist were talking with Sachin and Harbhajan. It was reported that Harbhajan had racially abused Andrew Symonds and had called him a “MONKEY’.
Sachin and Harbhajan were both adamant in their statements about no racial abuses being made during the match but the Aussies were constant on their stand too. They were serious about this which was shown by their not shaking hands with their Indian counterparts. They also pressed charges against Harbhajan Singh of racial abuse.
Actions against Harbhajan Singh
Right after the match was over, a hearing which lasted about 4 hours took place in front of the match referee, Mike Proctor, who was convinced that Harbhajan had hurled the abuse at Symonds and gave him a 3-match ban for breaching the Level 3 of ICC’s Code of Conduct.
The Indian team was not happy with it and immediately challenged the ban in Adelaide’s Federal Court Building. Symonds had Pointing, Hayden, and Clarke as his witnesses where as Harbhajan had Sachin at this corner.
Justice John Hansen ruled his verdict in Harbhajan’s favour and found him “not guilty”. The three-match ban was immediately reversed even though 50% of Harbhajan’s match fees were deducted.
Were the allegations true?
India still maintains its stand and says that no racial abuses were hurled. Australia also maintains its stand that Symonds was indeed racially abused. Symonds had said many times that he was unhappy with the court’s decision and had not forgiven Harbhajan
Note: This article does not give any verdict on the events that took place on that day. I sincerely pay my respects to the late great Andrew Symonds.
Written by Arnav Puri
.JPG)
.jpeg)
0 Comments