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Gilchrist dishes out shocker, calls Tendulkar ‘bad sport’: Cricket Next
New Delhi: In a shocking revelation, former Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, known for his uncontroversial image, has lashed out at the Indian team and has singled out Sachin Tendulkar, questioning the sportsman spirit of the ‘little master’ according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Gilchrist claimed that while the Aussies left the on-field tension behind on the ground, Indians like Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh carried the tension into the dressing rooms. The former wicketkeeper also questioned Tendulkar’s integrity, alleging that the master batsman changed his story during the Monkeygate controversy.
The retired wicketkeeper took a dig at Tendulkar, revealing he was “hard to find for a changing room handshake after we have beaten India”.
"In the Australian mentality, we play it hard and are then quick to shake hands and leave it all on the field. Some of our opponents don’t do it that way. Sachin Tendulkar, for instance, can be hard to find for a changing room handshake after we have beaten India. Harbhajan can also be hard to find," Gilchrist wrote in his autobiography which is to be released next week.
The explosive autobiography centres on the acrimonious series between India and Australia last summer which escalated with the Monkeygate controversy and India questioning the honesty of the Australian team.
“Only one team played in the right spirit,” Indian captain Anil Kumble had said after the Sydney Test.
Recalling events of the Monkeygate controversy, where Harbhajan Singh was accused of racism, Gilchrist lashed out at the off-spinner, Tendulkar and cricket boards of both India and Australia.
Gilchrist said he heard Harbhajan telling skipper Ricky Ponting, “Sorry, I apologise, it won’t happen again.”
“The look on Harbhajan’s face was very telling,” Gilchrist said. “He looked like he was thinking, ‘Oh s**t. What have I done here? They’re all over me.’”
Gilchrist said that Tendulkar, who was a witness to the entire episode, changed his story in an appeal he described as a “joke”.
“Tendulkar, who’d said at the first hearing that he hadn’t been able to hear what Harbhajan had said - and he was a far way away, up the other end, so I’m certain he was telling the truth - now supported Harbhajan’s version that he hadn’t called Symo a ‘monkey’ but instead a Hindi term of abuse that might sound like ‘monkey’ to Australian ears,” Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist also slammed officials from both countries, accusing the BCCI of “playing politics” and Cricket Australia and the ICC of “caving in” when the spinner’s original suspension was quashed.
“The Indian board made threats that they would take the team home - a disgraceful act, holding the game to ransom unless they got their way,” Gilchrist said.
With India and Australia clashing set to clash in the third Test here on Wednesday, Gilchrist’s lashing may add fuel to the fire and create further tension between the two nations, who have been at loggerheads for some time now.