Andrew Symonds’ death in a car accident in Queensland, Australia, stunned practically everyone with even a passing interest in cricket. Symonds was a quintessential Australian cricketer on the field – a mean machine – but could be equally amiable off the field. He was a part of the Australian squad that had few peers in its day. As with many Australian cricketers, their involvement with the Indian Premier League provided them with an understanding of India as a country and a cultural entity, which always appears to make a difference, as it did with ‘Roy’ as Symonds was known.
While Symonds’ cricket mindset was entirely Australian, he didn’t have the classic Australian appearance. In his prime, Symonds was known for his dreadlocks and zinc paint, and he resembled the Caribbean more than anything else.
Symonds was born in England and rose to prominence in domestic cricket after his parents relocated to Australia in 1994-95, eventually wearing the Australian ODI jersey. During his early career, there was much controversy and debate about whether he should represent England, having been born there, but Symonds chose to choose his new nation and became a full-fledged Australian.
His relationship with Indian cricket, at least before the IPL, was tumultuous, to say the least. In fact, he and Harbhajan Singh had feuded even before the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ scandal of 2008, as neither of them was known for backing down.
However, when Symonds joined the Deccan Chargers in the IPL that same year, he and Harbhajan buried the hatchet when the Australian joined the Mumbai Indians in 2011.
It wasn’t like Symonds had started picking battles with Bhajji exclusively. He, like other Australian cricketers of that age and before, used sledding to effectively break the mental make-up of many a competitor, resulting in things turning far too ugly and the Aussies being forced to retreat.