Mohammad Yousuf and I were ready to attack each other with forks during 2003 WC, reveals Harbhajan Singh

The 2003 World Cup encounter between India and Pakistan is widely remembered for Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliance but very few are aware of the incident that took place during the lunch break between Mohammad Yousuf and Harbhajan Singh. The young spinner was not a part of the playing XI for that encounter as India opted to play Anil Kumble. The wily off-spinner narrated an incident that took place during lunch between him and Yousuf. 

“It started with a joke but then got ugly. I was dropped for that game and Anil Kumble was playing because team management felt he was a better choice keeping in mind his good record against Pakistan. I was a bit down and it can happen when you aren’t in the XI,” Harbhajan said, reported PTI. 

“During the lunch time, I was sitting at one table and Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar were at the other table right across in the common area. We both speak Punjabi and suddenly while we were pulling each other’s legs he first made a personal comment and then remarked about my religion. I gave him a fitting reply. Before anyone realised, we both had forks in our hands and got up from our chairs ready to attack each other,” Harbhajan laughed.

By this moment, things weren’t as humorous as it sounded initially and was about to take an ugly turn when seniors from both camps stepped in. Harbhajan later said it’s an old story and whenever he meets Yousuf now, they laugh about it. 

“Rahul (Dravid) and Sri (Javagal Srinath) stopped me while Wasim bhai and Saeed bhai took Yousuf away. The seniors in both sides were irritated and we were told that this is not the right behaviour. It’s 16 years now. Now when I meet Yousuf, we both have a good laugh about it,” Harbhajan added. 

Players from both countries are often seen building camaraderie, which is often a pleasing scenario for the fans. Harbhajan further spoke about his friendship with Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi. 

“I have good friendship with Shahid and Shoaib (Akhtar). We have hung out together, had meals. We spoke the same language, our preference of food, music lot of things are common. But yes, once you cross that boundary rope, friendship does take a back seat,” Harbhajan concluded.