Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
 

Andrew Symonds didn't want to play in IPL after Monkeygate controversy, says former KXIP CEO

In fact, its now been revealed the issue would have had a significant effect on the history of the IPL as Maxwell revealed that Symonds did not want to play in the league at all due to the fracas with the Indian spinner Harbhajan.

Andrew Symonds

Bengaluru, June 12: Former Kings XI Punjab CEO and player agent Neil Maxwell claims former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds didn't want to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at all after the Monkeygate controversy in 2008.

The Monkeygate controversy in the 2008 Sydney Test between India and Australia will live long in the memories of all the players and fans, especially Symonds and Harbhajan Singh as the pair were fulcrum of the incident.

In fact, its now been revealed the issue would have had a significant effect on the history of the IPL as Maxwell revealed that Symonds did not want to play in the league at all due to the fracas with the Indian spinner Harbhajan.

While he had to convince Symonds to take part in the Inaugural IPL, Maxwell revealed he also had one other matter to resolve and that was to ensure the Australian and New Zealand players did not go to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

"(Then IPL commissioner) Lalit Modi asked me to convince the Australian players and the New Zealand players that they needed to come to the IPL, and not go to the ICL or, in Andrew Symonds' case, not go at all," Maxwell said on The Top Order podcast. "He didn't want to go at all, because he had that blowout with Harbhajan.

"So I had to work the Australian cricket team. I was working them all. I remember we're putting contracts in front of them, and there was going to be a minimum amount, they were going to this thing called the auction. So Andrew Symonds was going to get 200,000 USD minimum [$US 250,000]. And that was about an Australian Cricket contract [for a whole year] - he was on about 300, let's say."

After all the cloud over his participation in the IPL, Symonds ended up as the most expensive overseas player in the first-ever auction when he was signed by the Deccan Chargers for a price tag of Rs 10.2 crore.

"He was going to get that for six weeks guaranteed, and it could only go up. I remember trying to convince him that he needed to be part of this competition," Maxwell said.

"Anyway, he reluctantly agreed, and 48 hours later, he had 1.2 million [$1.35m] a year for three years as a contract. You talk about transformation, that was transformation as they introduced the auction."

The all rounder represented Deccan Chargers for three seasons before moving to Mumbai Indians for one season and called it quits. He played 39 IPL matches, scoring 974 runs and taking 20 wickets.

(With Agency inputs)

Story first published: Friday, June 12, 2020, 10:11 [IST]
Other articles published on Jun 12, 2020