View source for I Drank Too Much After Monkeygate: Symonds

<br>Andrew Symonds admits he started drinking "way too much" after his 'Monkeygate' incident with Harbhajan Singh.<br> <br>He also revealed the Indian spinner later broke down in tears when he finally apologised over the episode.<br> <br>Symonds was allegedly called a monkey by Singh during a heated Test match at the SCG in 2008.<br> <br>The Australian allrounder alleges Singh had also called him a monkey during a previous ODI clash but promised not to do it again after that match.<br> <br>Singh has previously claimed he never called Symonds a monkey during the SCG Test but rather the Hindi slur 'teri maa ki'.<br> <br>The controversial spinner was initially handed a three-match Test ban but it was later overturned as the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India flexed its considerable muscle.<br> <br>"I suppose this would be the moment where my whole persona to cricket changed," Symonds said in a Fox Cricket documentary Monkeygate - Ten Years On.<br> <br>"I didn't realise the politics, the power, the money until this moment in my career,.<br> <br>"I didn't realise how powerful one player, one incident, how much money was at stake and the ramifications.<br> <br>"I went downhill pretty fast after this because I felt responsible for four of my mates, close mates (Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist), that I dragged into this whole situation and it beared very heavily on me.<br> <br>"I started drinking way too much and my cricket, my mindset -- I started to go downhill, I just wasn't in the right frame of mind."<br> <br>Symonds scored 162no and 61 in a match-winning performance in that Sydney Test.<br> <br>But his Test career ended less than 12 months later as his life started to spiral out of control.<br> <br>However, Symonds reached a sense of closure when he joined Singh at IPL franchise Mumbai Indians a few years later.<br> <br>"When I first arrived there was deafening silence in the dressing shed when I walked in. There was a pink elephant in the corner.<br><br>You could feel it," Symonds said.<br> <br>"We (went) to a very wealthy man's place for a barbecue, drinks and dinner one night and the whole team's there and he had guests there, and Harbhajan said, 'Mate, can I speak to you for a minute out in the garden out the front?'<br> <br>"He goes, 'Look, I've got to say sorry to you for what I did to you in Sydney. I apologise, I hope I didn't cause you, your family, your friends too much harm and I really apologise for what I said, I shouldn't have said it'.<br> <br>"And he actually broke down crying, and I could just see that was a huge weight off his shoulders,  [https://soulofcricketer.bookmark.com/harbhajan-singh-performance-in-ipl https://soulofcricketer.bookmark.com/harbhajan-singh-performance-in-ipl] he had to get rid of it.<br> <br>"We shook hands and I gave him a hug and said, 'Mate, it's all good. It's dealt with'.<br> <br>"I said to him, 'It wasn't your fault or my fault, it was the way it was all handled', and after that you could see that it was a weight off his shoulders."<br>