Thaindian News

Melbourne, May 8 (IANS) Leaving their bitter past behind, Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh are “getting along great” while playing for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

According to a report in the The Weekend Australian, the two are over their verbal spat that broke out during the controversial Sydney Test between India and Australia in 2008 and are enjoying the success of Mumbai Indians, who are current table toppers in the competition and look all set to qualify for the play-offs.

The report also revealed that it was none other than batting legend and Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar who started the peace process between the two cricketers.

“I am not really doing any interviews, sorry - but it’s all good here,” said Symonds when asked about his ties with Harbhajan.

Symonds’ manager Matt Fearon confirmed that the two have buried the hatchet.

“That’s definitely the case (referring to the improved relations between the duo),” Fearon said.

“They have left everything in the past. The IPL auction was in January and I remember calling him (Symonds) and saying, well, you are going to Mumbai - with Harbhajan. He said two words: ‘Aw, true?’

“That said it all. He was a bit speechless. It would be fair to say there was a bit of uncertainty about how it would play out. There was an unknown there but yes, they are getting on great. They are both competitive animals. When two people like that are on different teams, there can be some very real tension. But put them in the same team and it’s a different story.”

Their relationship turned sour during the fourth Test of the 2007-08 series in which Harbhajan was charged for allegedly calling Symonds a ‘monkey’. Subsequently, the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Harbhajan for three matches but the apex body eventually overturned the ban.

That is all history now and Symonds’ former Australian team mate Matthew Hayden is happy that that the two mercurial players are back on talking terms.

“There was probably a time when I thought Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh would never be on speaking terms. But they have moved on now and I am not surprised to hear it,” Hayden said.

“The IPL has been tremendous in making two competitive cricketing nations much closer. There are highly competitive players from both countries and there’s always going to be tensions on the field because that’s the nature of the sport.”