'He is imagining all of this': Bhajji hits back at Symonds over 'Monkeygate' comments, says he 'never cried'

A couple of days after former Australian star Andrew Symonds alleged that Harbhajan Singh had broke down and apologised to him for the 'Monkeygate' scandal during the time the duo played for Mumbai Indians in IPL, the Indian off-spinner has hit back at the Aussie, claiming he is 'imagining all of it'.

Speaking to Times of India about the saga, Bhajji said, "God knows what he's talking about. Yes, when he came to play for MI, we discussed this issue, and we decided to move on since we were supposed to play for the same team. We decided to keep it behind us. I never apologised or cried in front of him. This incident never happened. It's a piece of his imagination. I don't know why the Aussies keep inventing new things about this episode. Somebody needs to tell the Aussies that while the world has gone to the moon, they're still stuck in Sydney 2008. It's 2018, let's forget about it."

10 years since the infamous incident, which saw the Australian camp allege that Harbhajan had called Symonds as a 'monkey' during the second Test between the two teams, the Aussie revealed that the two had made up three years later while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

Symonds, in a chat with Fox Sports, mentioned that Bhajji had come up to him and broke down over the saga, which prompted the Aussie to hug him and end the matter once and for all. 

"...He actually broke down crying, and I could just see that was a huge weight off his shoulders, he had to get rid of it. We shook hands and I gave him a hug and said: 'Mate, it's all good. It's dealt with'," he said.

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Harbhajan, who at time denied any wrongdoing, was suspended for three matches. But the ban was overturned after the visiting team, feeling hard done-by, lodged a protest in what was an all-time low in India-Australia cricket relations.

Reliving, Symonds said, "We go to a very wealthy man's place for a barbecue, drinks and dinner one night and the whole team's there and he had guests there, and Harbhajan said 'mate, can I speak to you for a minute out in the garden out the front'. He goes, 'look, I've got to say sorry to you for what I did to you in Sydney. I apologise, I hope I didn't cause you, your family, your friends too much harm and I really apologise for what I said, I shouldn't have said it'."

(With inputs from PTI)