Are you pregnant? Harbhajan Singh reveals how he shut up Australia's Darren Lehmann

New Delhi: Fed up with Darren Lehmann’s constant sledging during a tour of Australia, Harbhajan Singh once asked the current Australian head coach whether he was “pregnant” or not while pointing to his “huge stomach”, the veteran off-spinner has recalled. Harbhajan said he gave back to the Australians, including Lehman and legendary fast bowler Glenn McGrath, with whom he had frequent spats. [caption id=“attachment_2557172” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Harbhajan Singh. AFP[/caption] “Australians felt they were the biggest superstars, nobody can beat them, they always looked to dominate. But we were from a generation which was never docile. I come from Punjab and Punjabis by nature always speak their minds,” Harbhajan said. “I was batting and (Darren) Lehmann was continuously sledging me. He had a huge stomach and his slack string used to hang out like Shakti Kapoor’s. I was so much perturbed over his sledging that I pointed towards his abdomen and asked: ‘Are you pregnant?’ Lehmann told this to Shane Warne who burst out laughing. Warne asked me whether I said this…’ Well, players shouldn’t have such huge stomachs,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying in ‘Aap ki Adalat’ programme to be aired soon. “(Glenn) McGrath sledged me a lot. He felt who’s this guy playing after I have dismissed top batsmen. I replied back. He used to sledge once, I replied thrice, he sledged twice, I replied five times. A time came when the Australians stopped sledging me,” said the out-of-favour off-spinner who has played in 103 Tests since making his debut in 1998. On the infamous spat with Andrew Symonds, Harbhajan said: “I didn’t say monkey. It was their allegation. I only told him - ’teri maa ki…haath ki roti khaane ko bada dil kar raha hai’. He did not listen at all. Anyway, he did not know Hindi, and I don’t know English.” Harbhajan said former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was another player with whom he often had spat with though they were friends off the field. “Shoaib abused me a lot. He used to sit with us, ate with us. Since he was too close to us, maybe he used to take us for granted. He challenged me once to hit a six and when I hit a six, he was shocked. He then bowled two consecutive bouncers which I evaded. He then abused me and I replied back. But after the game, we sat together as if nothing happened. “Shoaib once threatened me he would come to my room and beat me. I told him come, let’s see who beats whom. I was really scared. He is a great hulk. He once bashed me and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) inside a room. Since he was heavy, it was difficult to catch him,” Harbhajan said.