7 Most dramatic incidents in Indian cricket

4. The Monkeygate

The “Monkeygate” controversy, which happened during the 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia, left cricket fans with a bitter aftertaste. It involved a heated altercation between Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh and Australian allrounder, Andrew Symonds. Symonds, who was the only non-white Australian player at the time, claimed to have been subjected to racist comments from the crowd.

Later, on the third day of the second Test match of the series, Harbhajan allegedly addressed Symonds as a “monkey”, to which the latter reacted with expletives. Subsequently, the match referee, Mike Procter banned Harbhajan from playing the next three Test matches but the punishment was later reduced to 50% match-fee fine after reports emerged that India had threatened to boycott the tour.