Symonds re-ignites monkeygate controversy

Melbourne: After Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, it is now Andrew Symonds' turn to reopen the old wounds of “monkey-gate” claiming he was certain that Harbhajan Singh first called him "monkey" in Mumbai last year before the Indian offie's alleged repeat of the same abuse in Sydney three months later.

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Writing in his book Roy on the Rise: A Year of Living Dangerously, co-authored with Stephen Gray and to hit the stands on Sunday, Symonds also questioned judge John Hansen's decision to downgrade the suspension of Harbhajan though he conceded his behaviour exacerbated the situation.

"Whether it was Aussies suck or Aussies are a****holes, it was clear who the villains were in this stadium (Wankhede)," Symonds writes, while reliving the day (October 17, 2007) when according to him the monkey chants started in Mumbai.

"The monkey chants were around too. Although some people in authority were aware that it was getting out of hand, others continued to hide behind the line that it was all a cultural misunderstanding and that the chants were merely celebrating the monkey god.

"Our team couldn't hide this disbelief at this - 'What particular God is called a***hole in this country?'

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"The frustration levels in the camp were rising and I was conscious of contributing to the pressure on the team. It was another turbulent match. I was out for a first-ball duck. I trudged off, getting darker at the world by the second as monkey chants boomed out around Wankhede Stadium," Symonds said, according to excerpts which appeared in Australia’s Herald Sun.

"Things took a sharp turn for the worse during the Indian innings. Harbhajan and I locked horns briefly in the 35th over and that's when he chucked the 'monkey' word at me. I didn't have to be Einstein to work out what he was referring to."