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Published 16:24 IST, April 28th 2020

Harbhajan Singh reveals Tendulkar, Dravid helped him pull off epic prank on Sourav Ganguly

Harbhajan Singh said that a few members from the team had already planned to play an April Fool's prank on someone and they chose their captain Sourav Ganguly.

Reported by: Jatin Malu
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Harbhajan Singh
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Harbhajan Singh has been India's premier spinner for the major part of the last two decades. Harbhajan is an animated character on the field but off the field, he has shown often that he is an equally fun-loving person. Harbhajan Singh is known for his notorious pranks which he used to play on his teammates too during his India playing days. Harbhajan revealed about one such prank that he played on Sourav Ganguly, which almost made him cry.

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Harbhajan Singh recalls prank on Sourav Ganguly

While speaking on a talk show 'What The Duck', Harbhajan Singh said that there was an India-Pakistan match in Kochi on April 2 in 2005 and the Indian team had reached the venue on April 1. He added that a few members from the team had already planned to play an April Fool's prank on someone and they chose their captain Sourav Ganguly.

Harbhajan Singh added that he asked a person to make some paper cuttings of local newspapers and told him to write false statements about Sourav Ganguly. He further said that he asked the person to mention the names of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan in the paper cutting where Sourav Ganguly has said that these players were unprofessional who didn't work hard, only wanted to party and were not at all focused on the game.

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Harbhajan Singh took those paper cuttings and went to the Indian team's main practice session. Harbhajan Singh started to act as if he was infuriated as he asked Sourav Ganguly about what he had said. He also told Sourav Ganguly that he cannot say anything just because he was the captain and added that they were serious about their game and he had no right to tell otherwise.

Sourav Ganguly was stumped and wondered when did he say those statements and that's when Harbhajan Singh showed him the paper cuttings. Harbhajan Singh further said that Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were also involved in the prank and the acted exceedingly well to make Ganguly believe it was real. Harbhajan Singh then picked up his bag and started to leave and that's when Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan also asked Sourav Ganguly who does he think he is and added that they were also serious about playing for the country.

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Harbhajan Singh said that Sourav Ganguly was stunned and was almost in tears and added that he was thinking how it could be all over the news when he hadn't said it. Sourav Ganguly told Harbhajan Singh that he hadn't aid sany of those things and he didn't know how to make him believe that. Sourav Ganguly further said that if he didn't believe him, he was even ready to quit the captaincy.

Harbhajan Singh added that they dragged the prank for 15-20 minutes as coach John Wright stood waiting on the field for the players to come out and practice. Harbhajan Singh finally asked a stunned Sourav Ganguly to not be so serious as it was just a  prank they were playing because it was April Fool's Day and he was the first one to become a fool.

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IMAGE COURTESY: HARBHAJAN SINGH INSTAGRAM

Updated 16:24 IST, April 28th 2020