In the wake of Navjot Sidhu’s resignation from Rajya Sabha, we turn the clock back 20 years, and look at an infamous instance when, as a cricketer, he returned home midway through a tour of England
BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Narendra Modi government, made headlines on Monday when he tendered his resignation from the House of Elders.
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In the wake of Sidhu’s latest move, we turn the clock back 20 years, and look at an infamous instance when, as a cricketer, he returned home midway through a tour of England.
The walkout
Sidhu and then India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin had a major fallout on the tour, which resulted in the former India opener returning back to India midway. The reason for the dispute remained a mystery for many years.
It took a good 15 years before the riddle was eventually solved. Jaywant Lele, the then secretary of the BCCI, revealed what transpired on that tour in his autobiography 'I Was There - Memoirs of a Cricket Administrator'.
Sidhu with Azhar in 1995. Pic/mid-day archives
As the story goes, Sidhu told former India cricketer Mohinder Amarnath that everything was okay in the beginning (during the tour, but after a few days, for reasons best known to him, Azhar started abusing him repeatedly. Every day, when they met, he used to say 'Good morning', okay, but this was invariably followed by filthy words. At the hotel, at the nets, while passing on instructions, even while chatting with him, Azhar used to address him with a prefix!
Sidhu said he was terribly upset and decided that it was not tolerable! He had not come on the tour to listen to abuses from the skipper. He was upset, so he decided to leave the team quietly. Mohinder was stunned! But as he knew Azhar closely, he was not ready to believe him. He insisted that Sidhu tell him the words used by Azhar. Ultimately, Sidhu came out with the words: "Maa ke ******* "
"After a pause, Mohinder burst into laughter as Sidhu watched him nervously. Finally, Mohinder told him, "Dear Sherry, okay, this is an abuse in North India. But believe me, this is a very common naughty address to a dear one in Hyderabadi, often used by even ladies over there! It means 'mother's dear child!' (I too remembered having heard these words from a selector when I visited his place in Hyderabad). While calling you with that prefix, Azhar was not showing slightest disrespect to you, leave aside any offence!"
Friends Again!
The equation between Azhar and Sidhu is back to track though. This became evident last year when Azhar visited Sidhu in hospital as the latter was suffering from acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Sidhu also posted a picture with him captioning it - " Old Gold, old wine, old friends - still the Best!"
Well, that’s quit(e) a story!
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