During Mumbai Indians’ game against the Rising Pune Supergiants at Pune, there was a brief confrontation in the heat of the moment between two teammates. The individuals in question are Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu, who had a small altercation of sorts during Pune’s innings.
On Harbhajan’s bowling, Rayudu gave his best to save a boundary, but couldn’t eventually. An enraged Harbhajan released a few expletives in frustration, which didn’t go down too well with Rayudu. Rayudu got charged up and openly confronted Harbhajan till tensions between the two peaked. However, the two hugged and soon made up for the incident.
In the post-match presentation, skipper Rohit Sharma played down the incident and said that both the individuals were mature and thorough professionals. “These things (altercation) happen. Both are quite aggressive on the field and they like to give it all. They have been playing together for a long time for MI and they must be having a good time now off the field. We saw them hug when Bhajji got Handscomb out. They are mature professional cricketers and they know how to handle themselves in the field,” said Sharma.
Speaking about his side’s comprehensive win over the Supergiants, Rohit said, “I think it was a great effort although we didn’t start the way we wanted to. We didn’t field well. Dropping catches is never a good sign. Restricting them to 160 was a great effort, given the way they started. Spinners and fast bowlers did well in the middle, and Bumrah and McClenaghan finished it off well. I have not had a great time batting first, but when you are chasing, the target is in front and you can plan. Toss is not in our hands and whatever you end up doing, you have to do well. We are on the right track but there’s room to improve our fielding.”