Throwback when Andrew Symonds called 90% of the Indian players lazy

Andrew Symonds is always known for the controversial stuff he did and said on and off the field. The all-rounder was part of the famous monkey-gate episode during the 2nd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2007-08 which Australia won 2-0. It was reported that Harbhajan Singh had called the Australian a ‘monkey’, which stretched out till it becomes a dead rubber.

Since then Symonds has faced ups and downs in his cricketing career with chances coming in rarely for the all-rounder. The Indian Premier League franchise Deccan Chargers brought him in for a season. Post the IPL stint; the all-rounder has pretty much been a commentator in the Big Bash league.

In an interview with Harsha Bhogle, Symonds talked about his chemistry with the former Australian coach John Buchanan. Buchanan was pretty much responsible for the all-rounder’s development as a player.

Symonds then revealed that ‘Australian domestic cricket is pretty much more fun, with breaks in between the games compared to the English domestic cricket where the breaks are very short for the batsmen to recuperate.’

Warne inspired the Australians to play IPL

Bhogle asked him if his decision of playing the IPL was for the huge pay-check or for the love of cricket. The Australian replied saying ‘It was a 50-50 decision. Obviously, the pay was good, but the hunger to win the IPL trophy was a huge motivation to play the tournament. It was Warne, who inspired the Australians to play regularly in the IPL.’

However, the most controversial statement of the whole interview was when Symonds mentioned that 90% of the Indian players are lazy, with people looking at them just as a specimen. The talent that the players have is immense. However, they don’t have the stamina to play out the entire league.

The all-rounder then went to end the interview revealing that he would love Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Saurabh Tiwary in his team, with all of them equally talented to play on any side.

Watch the video here: