Eight years after slapping S Sreesanth of Kings XI Punjab during an Indian Premier League match, Harbhajan Singh found himself in the middle of another controversy. The match, between Rising Pune Supergiants and Mumbai Indians in Pune, was fittingly played on May 1, Maharashtra Day. IPL Controversies- Part 19: Andre Russell’s Stop-Start Delivery in 2014.

Rohit Sharma asked Pune to bat first. Harbhajan was bowling the 11th over of the match (his second), to Saurabh Tiwary. The fourth ball was short, outside off-stump, and Tiwary pulled. Tim Southee sprinted from long-on and Ambati Rayudu, the closer of the two, from deep mid-wicket. Rayudu eventually dived but failed to cut it off.

Harbhajan was not amused. He hurled abuses at Rayudu, who was in no mood to take this lying down. The two men charged at each other, and for a moment it seemed things might go out of hand. If on-field spat between rivals was bad, between teammates it was certainly worse. IPL Controversies- Part 18: Pune Warriors India Removed in 2013.

But Harbhajan calmed down by the time they converged. He apologised and put an arm around Rayudu in an effort to calm him down, but an angry Rayudu walked away. Two years later, Rayudu apologised to Harbhajan during a conversation on the Qu Play YouTube channel. By then both men had moved to Chennai Super Kings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 13, 2021 07:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).