Former India off-spinner, and now a commentator, Harbhajan Singh had found himself in the firing line of the fans prior to the India-Pakistan encounter on Sunday in the Asia Cup 2022.
To cover the game, a couple of news channels of the two countries had merged in the build-up to the match where Harbhajan Singh shared the screen with former Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi.
In a video clip that had gone viral, Afridi had made a comment on Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan, along with the sports anchor Vikrant Gupta, was seen laughing at the mention of Gambhir’s name. Angry fans didn’t take this lightly and slammed the former off-spinner for laughing at the name of his own former teammate.
Image Source – Aaj TakHarbhajan comes out with clarification, blasts the fans
Now, through the medium of Sports Today’s YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh has explained his side of events, revealing that he wasn’t laughing at Gautam Gambhir, but in fact because of a curd that had fallen on the ground and on some other remark.
The 42-year-old commentator also blasted the fans saying social media users shouldn’t cook up controversies for the sake of it, especially when not knowing the reality of the events.
“These people are here just to have fun at somebody else’s expense. Their job is to needle in other people’s lives. I don’t need to give any clarification to anyone. What Gautam and I share and what our bond is, I don’t need to say anything to anyone. Let them come up with assumptions. But at the same time, I would like to advise all these people. ‘Please be humans, don’t behave like animals’,” Harbhajan said.
“Do you even know the context? Curd had fallen on my feet which is why I laughed. But you guys wouldn’t know because you guys were only looking at my face. I stand with every Indian player and it doesn’t matter to me what anyone says on social media. Gautam is my brother and my heart beats for India,” he added.
You can watch the video here:
India defeated Pakistani, Harbhajan praises Hardik
Harbhajan heaped big praise on Man of the Match Hardik Pandya, who struck 33* off 17 balls and took 3 wickets. Harbhajan even claimed that Pandya is a perfect captaincy alternative going forward, the all-rounder having the zen-like coolness of MS Dhoni.
“He should become captain, I think he will become captain. He has shown a different avatar in the recent past. He has become like an MS Dhoni, he is very calm and composed. He is batting very well and he trusts his ability very much,” said Harbhajan to India Today.
“When he goes out to bat, there is a different level of swag. He has worked so hard and returned to action that he knows he will be able to do the job and win games for India.”
