Monkeygate laid to rest, finally!

Foes turn friends

Three years of seething animosity triggered by the “Monkeygate” scandal of the 2008 Sydney Test has ended thanks to the Indian Premier League, with both the feisty players forming a bond at Mumbai Indians playing environment, ‘The Australian’ reported.

The newspaper said Tendulkar played a part in ending one of the most talked-about feuds in world cricket.

“India’s Test legend Sachin Tendulkar has been front and centre in healing their wounds as Symonds relishes his role of small fish in the big Mumbai pond next to World Cup heroes Tendulkar and Harbhajan,” the report said.

Symonds refused to speak much about the new bonding but his manager confirmed the truce. “I’m not really doing any interviews, sorry - but it’s all good here,” Symonds was quoted as saying when asked about his relationship with Harbhajan.

Symonds’s close friend and former team-mate Matthew Hayden was pleased to hear the two had made up. “There was probably a time when I thought Symonds and Harbhajan would never be on speaking terms. But they’ve moved on now and I’m not surprised to hear it. That’s the way it should be. But there’s no point in any of us looking back to what happened in 2008,” Hayden said. “The IPL has been tremendous in making two competitive cricketing nations much closer.”