Former Kings XI Punjab CEO Reveals Andrew Symonds Didn't Want To Play In IPL Because Of Blowout With Harbhajan

"(Then IPL commissioner) Lalit Modi asked me to convince the Australian players and the New Zealand players that they needed to come to the IPL, and not go to the ICL or, in Andrew Symonds' case, not go at all," Maxwell said on The Top Order podcast.

Andrew Symonds and Harbajhan Singh (PTI)

New Delhi: The Monkeygate scandal is arguably one of the lowest points in the history of Test cricket and a blemish in the careers of cricketers from India and Australia who were played in the controversy-laden 2008 Sydney Test. In the centre of the entire controversy were Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh who had an heated altercation in the middle of the green turf while the test was on at the SCG. With relations between Indian and Australian cricketers hitting an all time low after what panned out from the controversy, the incident would have had a significant bearing on the history of the first edition of the IPL as player agent and former Kings XI Punjab CEO Neil Maxwell revealed that Symonds did not want to play in the league at all. Making some startling revelations on the burning issues before the commencement of the opening IPL season, Neil said that in capacity of a player agent he had to make sure that the Australian and New Zealand players did not go to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL). "(Then IPL commissioner) Lalit Modi asked me to convince the Australian players and the New Zealand players that they needed to come to the IPL, and not go to the ICL or, in Andrew Symonds' case, not go at all," Maxwell said on The Top Order podcast. "He didn't want to go at all, because he had that blowout with Harbhajan. "So I had to work the Australian cricket team. I was working them all. I remember we're putting contracts in front of them, and there was going to be a minimum amount, they were going to this thing called the auction. So Andrew Symonds was going to get 200,000 USD minimum [$US 250,000]. And that was about an Australian Cricket contract [for a whole year] -- he was on about 300, let's say." Symonds racked up a whopping Rs 10.2 crores to end up being the most expensive overseas player in the first-ever auction as he was snapped up his Australian team mate Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers. "He was going to get that for six weeks guaranteed, and it could only go up. I remember trying to convince him that he needed to be part of this competition," Maxwell said. "Anyway, he reluctantly agreed, and 48 hours later, he had 1.2 million [$1.35m] a year for three years as a contract. You talk about transformation, that was transformation as they introduced the auction." The all rounder played 39 IPL matches, scoring 974 runs and taking 20 wickets.