Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh found himself at the centre of controversy over his commentary during the ongoing IPL season, leading to a fiery exchange with cricket fans on the social media platform X.
The controversy kicked off when a meme account criticised Harbhajan, along with Virender Sehwag and Navjot Singh Sidhu, for their analysis during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad match in IPL 2026. The account compared the trio’s commentary to that of Ian Bishop, accusing them of offering shallow insights.
Harbhajan didn’t take kindly to the remarks, responding angrily and calling the meme account a “dog” while making inflammatory comments.
“When an elephant walks through the market, dogs bark a thousand times,” he responded in Hindi, using offensive language, before telling the user to shut up and leave.
The meme account retaliated by bringing up Harbhajan’s past rivalry with Ravichandran Ashwin. It claimed Harbhajan’s career decline was fueled by jealousy and suggested that a similar fate awaited his commentary career.
“Turbanator nahi commentary ke liye t*rror hai tu,” The user’s comment added fuel to the fire, further provoking the former off-spinner.
Harbhajan didn't take kindly to the remark and retorted with a stronger response, aiming to shut down the troll. “Dogs can’t digest ghee, and a loser like you can’t stomach the reply. Get lost, Tommy,” he wrote.
The exchange quickly escalated, with numerous similar comments flooding in. Harbhajan continued to respond sharply to his critics, including a post with a picture of him alongside Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra, captioned "these three clowns" with laughing emojis.
The entire episode has brought attention to the ongoing debate over Hindi and English commentary, particularly regarding the depth of analysis provided by both. What started as trolling directed at Aakash Chopra during the T20 World Cup 2026 has now snowballed into a wider discussion, with Harbhajan becoming the latest to be caught in the controversy.