It's eight years to the day to monkeygate, the controversy that threatened to destroy India-Australia cricket
Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh were involved in a heated standoff in a Test clouded by questionable umpiring decisions.
The New Year’s Test in Sydney has becoming something of a cricketing tradition. Eight years ago, though, the tradition turned decidedly sour, sparking off one of cricket’s biggest controversies, almost on par with Bodyline.
Matches involving Australia and India have had a heightened element of rancour ever since Sourav Ganguly famously made Steve Waugh wait for the toss. But when India played Australia in Sydney on the traditional New Year’s Test (January 2-6, 2008), it exploded.
It all began with some questionable umpiring decisions, and then blew up into a racism controversy between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds which threatened to negatively affect relations between the two countries (video above).
Australian batsman Andrew Symonds was at the centre of it all, but the drama started much earlier, when he was questionably given not out thrice during his first innings score of 162.
There were other dubious decisions as well, but none more shocking than Sourav Ganguly’s dismissal in the second innings, when he nicked a ball to slip where Michael Clarke took a supposed catch. With replays proving inconclusive about whether the catch was taken cleanly or not, Australian captain Ricky Ponting sparked controversy when he indicated to the umpire that it was out. Watch that incident below, enlivened by commentary from a visibly enraged Sunil Gavaskar.
Australia did win in controversial circumstances, but the mood in the Indian camp was mutinous. Captain Anil Kumble was memorably quoted as having said, “Only one team is playing in the spirit of the game”. After a series of allegations, counter-allegations and hearings, the series finally went ahead. India got some measure of revenge in the next Test at Perth, defeating Australia by 72 runs in a notable victory.
