‘Dogs can't digest ghee…’ - Harbhajan Singh tears apart a fan on social media, shuts down ‘jealousy’ claims on R Ashwin

Harbhajan Singh came down heavily towards a fan on social media with a “dog” jibe on Sunday after the former Indian cricketer was accused of being jealous of peer Ravichandran Ashwin. The incident came into light after Ashwin made his Hindi commentary debut during the first match of the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) opener in Bengaluru.

It all started with a X account named ‘Homie’ who called Harbhajan a "chapri" (a derogatory term used to signal someone's supposed lack of taste or class) along with former cricketers Navjot Singh Sidhu and Virender Sehwag. In a photocollage, the user put West Indies' Ian Bishop on top on the Indian cricketing trio of Sehwag, Sidhu and Harbhajan.

"Caribbean hoke bhi Indian players ko in teeno se zyada janta hu (Despite being a Caribbean, I know Indian players better than these three)," was the text on the picture, along with a caption which reach “Ian Bishop is more Indian than these chapri Hindi commentators.”

Unable to accept such a comment, Harbhajan minced no words against the user. “The elephant walks through the market. Dogs bark a thousand times. Get out of here, Tomy. Not Homie,” was Harbhajan's reply. The user was no mood to stop there as he targeted the former India spinner once again.

In another post the same user said, "Ashwin se jealousy tera career kha gayi ab commentary pe dhyan de warna yaha se bhi retire hona padega. "Turbanator" nahi commentary ke liye ‘t*rror’ hai tu, (Your jealousy against Ashwin ruined your career. Now focus on commentary, or you'll have to retire from here too. You're not a "Turbanator," but a "t*rror" for commentary)."

In his reply, Harbhajan said “Dogs can't digest ghee and a loser like you will not be able to digest my answer. Get lost, Tommy.” Not to forget, Ashwin has a massive social media presence with close to 8 million subscribers on YouTube. Harbhajan too has a YouTube presence but not as high as Ashwin.

R Ashwin becomes first Indian to sign a MLC deal

Meanwhile, Ashwin became the first Indian to play in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States, when he signed for San Francisco Unicorns on Saturday. The 39-year-old allrounder retired from international cricket in December 2024 after having played 106 tests for India, taking 537 wickets and hitting six Test hundreds.

A spinner, Ashwin made 65 appearances in T20 international matches. In the IPL, he played for his hometown Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant.