By IANS,
Melbourne : Harbhajan Singh has hit back at Adam Gilchrist for vilifying India’s cricketing god Sachin Tendulkar.
The off-spinner said Indian players have lost respect for Gilchrist after the former Australian wicketkeeper called Tendulkar “a liar and dishonest” in his yet to be published autobiography “True Colors”.
“He should not be talking about Sachin. It is all rubbish,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald Friday.
“We don’t respect him. He pretends to be a saint and people say he walks when he nicks, but why did he appeal when batsmen don’t nick? He always changes his mind according to a situation. If Australia is close to a victory, he is always going up (to appeal) whether it is out or not out. We don’t need him to say these things just because he is retired.”
Gilchrist referred to Tendulkar’s role in the race row between Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds in the controversial Sydney Test. He described Tendulkar’s evidence in the hearing against Harbhajan’s alleged “Monkey” comments as a “joke”. He went on to say Tendulkar is a “sore loser” as he was hard to be found for a changing-room handshake after the match.
Gilchrist’s comments has outraged a nation that worships Tendulkar as a cricketing god.
Gilchrist says Tendulkar changed his evidence between the initial hearing, where he testified that he could not hear what Harbhajan had said, and the appeal, where he claimed Harbhajan used a Hindi word that sounded like “monkey”.
Former India coach John Wright, too, said he was surprised Tendulkar’s sportsmanship had been questioned.
“During my time with the team, impeccable would be a word that comes to mind. You can talk about sportsmanship on the field but I saw the pressure of being Sachin Tendulkar in India and he had time for everyone,” said Wright, who coached India to a famous series victory in 2001 and to a series draw in Australia in 2003-04
“In the heat of battle, I have always thought that what happens on the field stays on the field. That seems to have changed a bit. I know Australia plays the game very hard and I hope India has gained a harder competitive edge from that.”