"We are going home!" - When Harbhajan trolled Yuvraj Singh for wearing a specific shirt after 2007 World Cup exit
Yuvraj Singh recently recalled a hilarious incident featuring Harbhajan Singh when the duo made their way home after India’s disastrous showing in the 2007 World Cup. The mercurial all-rounder revealed how Harbhajan asked him to change his shirt before boarding the flight.
Despite having of the strongest teams on paper, India infamously failed to make it past the group stage of the ICC event. With fans back home furious after the team’s disappointing display, many cricketers had to endure some tough moments while dealing with angry fans in India.
Speaking on “22 Yarns with Gaurav Kapur”, Yuvraj Singh detailed how he had to go into hiding following the shock result. The all-rounder also shared a comical incident involving his t-shirt and Harbhajan Singh.
“I remember me and Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) were almost hiding after the 50-over World Cup because we didn’t qualify. We were like ‘Punjab nahi jaana yaar, chittar khaane hain’ (Don’t want to go back home to Punjab, we will get a beating). Remember hiding in England and after a while, we went back home. I remember wearing a T-shirt which said ‘Play Hard or Go Home’ and I was wearing it on the flight. Bhajji asked me to change it because we are going home! 'People will attack you if anyone saw you wearing this t-shirt,' he said,” Yuvraj revealed.
Many players from the 2007 ODI World Cup squad have talked about the horrors they faced after returning to India. Players like MS Dhoni had their home pelted with stones, while angry fans chanted slogans and burnt effigies of players like Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag.
Yuvraj Singh admitted that the time post the 2007 ODI World Cup was tough. He revealed that he took Harbhajan Singh’s timely advice while traveling back home.
“It made complete sense! Referring to my t-shirt he said ‘What Play Hard, you aren’t doing that? You are the one Going Home!’. I agreed with him and changed my t-shirt. We then went back to India secretly. It was a tough time, we were getting a lot of flak. But couldn’t do anything about it,” Yuvraj pondered.
Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh the funniest, says Yuvraj Singh
The 39-year-old was later asked to name the funniest cricketers he played with, and he was quick to come up with an answer. Yuvraj Singh labeled Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh as a dynamic duo, going as far as to say that the former would have had a flourishing career as a comedian had he not been camera-shy.
“Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh. Dynamic duo. Their sense of humour is next level. Especially, Ashish Nehra, you know about his great timing. He is unbelievable. He gets a bit shy in front of the camera, but if he wasn’t, he would have been the highest-paid comedian after Jim Carrey,” Yuvraj Singh claimed.
The trio played together for India for a long time, and their camaraderie has been there for everyone to see over the years.