Sachin Tendulkar has spoken in reasonable detail about the 'Monkeygate' scandal which rocked cricket during India's tour of Australia in 2007-08. The scandal broke during the second Test at Sydney.

The incident, which involved a spat between off spinner Harbhajan Singh and Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds while Singh was in a partnership with Tendulkar, nearly led to a cancellation of India's tour of Australia.

In the said incident, Symonds had alleged that Harbhajan used a racially inappopriate word - 'monkey' - a slight on Symonds' appearance. However, Harbhajan, and Sachin Tendulkar who was batting at the other end, stuck to the version that Harbhajan had called Symonds 'teri maa ki' - a Hindi expletive.

In his autobiography 'Playing It My Way' Tendulkar defends that stance and asserts that Harbhajan never used the word monkey. He reiterates that Harbhajan called Symonds 'teri maa ki' which he heard at the other end. Tendulkar further alleges that Symonds had been abusing Harbhajan for a long time in an effort to rile him up, and that Harbhajan upto that point had been reasonably courteous to Symonds and the other Australian players.

While the master batsman admits that Harbhajan lost his cool and reacted impulsively, he is quick to take the off-spinner's side. Moreover, what is most interesting is that Tendulkar believes the after-match hearing about the incident was conducted in an unfair manner.

Apparently, the Indian and Australian teams were made to testify separately, while the other team was not present in the room. Without stating it in as many ways, Tendulkar claims this was suspicious. He also lashes out at Mike Procter, the match referee, who apparently made an official statement claiming that 'only one team is telling the truth'.

Tendulkar adds that despite the public camaraderie between the two sides before the Perth Test, the air was full of tension, and the Indian team felt that the hearing had been unfair. He says that it was only because of a massive protest against the judgement (which banned Harbhajan Singh for three Tests) that the tour was continued. He praises then-captain Anil Kumble, claiming Kumble handled the issue with extreme maturity.

Tendulkar also blames poor umpiring for India's loss in the second Test, in particular pointing to several poor decisions on the final day during India's second innings. He reserves special criticism for Adam Gilchrist, the Australian wicketkeeper. Rahul Dravid, who had scored 38, was given out caught behind by Steve Bucknor, though in the words of Tendulkar 'the bat seemed to be a fair distance from the ball'. Tendulkar blames Gilchrist for joining in the appeal, despite Gilchrist's reputation as an honest player who walked when he knew he had nicked the ball.

Tendulkar blames poor umpiring for Andrew Symonds' century in the first innings as well, when India had Australia in big trouble. However, he forgets to mention that he too was plumb LBW on 36 in the first innings, was given not out, and went on to score an unbeaten 154.

The chapter, titled 'Bad Language' shows us exactly how upset Tendulkar was over the incidents of the second Test in Sydney. However, it seems to present just one side of the story and does not tell us much more than we already know.