India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal paid tribute to former team-mate and Australia cricketer Andrew Symonds, who tragically passed away at the age of 46 following a car crash on Sunday. Chahal and Symonds were team-mates at Mumbai Indians during the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League, which also happened to be Symonds' last IPL season. (Also Read: Tendulkar recalls Mumbai Indians memories with Andrew Symonds in heartfelt tribute for Aussie star; Laxman 'shocked')
"I have lost my closest man. Will miss you terribly. You were just not a colleague. My family, my man. My Symonds uncle. I will miss you terribly. RIP," tweeted Chahal.
Together, Chahal and Symonds were part of the MI squad in the IPL and during the 2011 Champions League. Chahal was yet to make his IPL debut when he encountered an incident with Symonds and former New Zealand cricketer James Franklin. In an interview to his current IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, Chahal narrated how he was gagged and forgotten the whole night by the two former all-rounders.
"It was in 2011 after winning champions League in a Chennai hotel. He [Andrew Symonds] had drunk a lot of 'fruit juice' (laughs). I was with him, only. James Franklin and he tied my hands and legs, and said 'now you have to open'. They were in so much masti they have taped my mouth and forgot all about me. The party got over and in the morning. When a cleaner came, he saw me and freed me. They asked from when have I been here like this and I told them, 'From the night itself'.
{{/usCountry}}"It was in 2011 after winning champions League in a Chennai hotel. He [Andrew Symonds] had drunk a lot of 'fruit juice' (laughs). I was with him, only. James Franklin and he tied my hands and legs, and said 'now you have to open'. They were in so much masti they have taped my mouth and forgot all about me. The party got over and in the morning. When a cleaner came, he saw me and freed me. They asked from when have I been here like this and I told them, 'From the night itself'.
{{/usCountry}}And when the podcast host asks him if Symonds and Franklin apologised to him in the morning, Chahal said: "No, they said sometimes when they drink 'juice' so much, they can't handle it and they can't remember anything'.
In what turned out to be his final season in the IPL, Symonds played 11 matches for MI, scoring 135 runs with a highest of 44 not out and took one wicket.