“I took a fork and headed towards Mohammad Yousuf” Harbhajan Singh recalls how banter turned ugly during 2003 World Cup
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Mohammad Yousuf and Harbhajan Singh
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh recalled an incident that happended during the 2003 World Cup against Pakistan. A light banter with Mohammad Yousuf had taken an ugly turn and both he and Yousuf were about start a physical fight before some sane minds there stopped the two.
The “Turbanator” revealed that incident to Sports Tak: “Those days lunch used to be in the common area. Both the teams were sitting there.”
He then stated how a casual sportsmanship soon would have turned into a fist fight had not Saeen Anwar and Javagal Srinath didn’t give piece of mind.
“A banter began with Mohammad Yousuf and there were some light-hearted exchanges. But things got ugly and expletives were being fired. Things got so bad that I took a fork and headed towards Mohammad Yousuf. From the other side, he also started coming towards me for a fight.”
“Saeed Anwar had to stop Yousuf while (Javagal) Srinath held me. Anwar gave us a strong message, pointing out what kind of a picture we are painting of India-Pakistan relations.”
“You have reached you hundred, now please defend against me”- Harbhajan Singh to Shahid Afridi
Harbajan also recalled an incident about an inteaction taking place between him and Shahid Afridi from the 2005 ODI in Kanpur. Afridi was hitting only fours and sixes and after he completed his century, Harbhajan requested him not to attack him. And Afridi’s response was this, read further.
“So, he did play a defensive shot, but the ball hit the bat and crawled behind to hit the stumps. Afridi was stunned, but I told him, ‘koi nahi yaar, sau toh bana diya (don’t mind pal, you have already scored a hundred)’.
India and Pakistan will resume their rivaly today, on Sunday, August 28 in the Asia Cup 2022. This will also be their first match since the T20 World Cup last year.
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Gouri Das
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