Harbhajan should blame himself for inviting ban: Symonds

Andrew Symonds admits he had a "crack" at Harbhajan Singh in the second Test but said the Indian off-spinner has only him to blame for incurring a three-match ban by Match Referee Mike Procter.

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds admitted he had a "crack" at Harbhajan Singh in the second Test but said the Indian off-spinner has only him to blame for incurring a three-match ban by Match Referee Mike Procter.

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Symonds claimed Harbhajan had hit Brett Lee while batting, following which he had an altercation with the Indian. But if the episode earned Harbhajan a three-match ban from Procter, the off-spinner has none but himself to blame for that, Symonds said.

"I'm a firm believer in sticking up for your teammate, so I stepped in and had a bit of a crack at Harbhajan, telling him exactly what I thought of his antics," Symonds told The Daily Telegraph.

"He then had a shot back, which brings us to the situation we're facing tonight," he said, squarely blaming the Indian for the issue, which has now snowballed into a major contention with the BCCI challenging the ban order.

Recalling how it all started, Symonds said, "Brett Lee had just sent down a delivery and Harbhajan took off down the wicket. When he was returning to his crease, he decided to hit Brett on the backside. I have no idea why he did it. I was standing nearby and when I saw what happened I thought: 'Hold on, that's not on'."

"I must admit the incident was pretty surprising, because relations between the two sides so far have been very good. It's been a series played in really good spirit. There's been no sledging or bad blood."