After Yuzvendra Chahal's shocking revelation about the New Zealand's James Franklin and Australia's Andrew Symonds physical harassment during the Champions League 2011, Durham County has decided to have a confidential conversation with head coach James Franklin on the allegation.
James Franklin and the 31-year-old spinner were teammates at Mumbai Indians (MI) during the 2011 IPL and Chahal, during a conversation with R. Ashwin in a podcast couple of days back, alleged that the New Zealander and Andrew Symonds left him tied up and gagged for an entire night. He was found the following morning by a member of cleaning staff.
Durham stated that the club will speak with their head coach Franklin privately over the recent allegations made against him and noted that they will collect more facts on it as well.
“We are aware of recent news reports surrounding an incident in 2011 which name a member of our staff. As with any matters involving employees, the club will speak privately with all parties involved to determine the facts,” Durham said in a statement sent to ESPNcricinfo.
Franklin was appointed Durham coach in early 2019 and he played 31 Tests, 110 ODIs, and 38 T20Is for New Zealand in his international career. Apart from that, Frankin has played 20 games for the Mumbai Indians in the 2011 and 2012 editions.
Chahal made the comments several months ago on a Royal Challengers Bangalore podcast but they have come into focus afresh this week after he recounted another incident involving an unnamed Mumbai team-mate. On the second occasion, Chahal alleged that he had been hung out of a 15th-floor hotel balcony by a drunk teammate.
“It was in 2011 after wining champions League in a Chennai hotel. He [Andrew Symonds] had drunk a lot of “fruit juice” (laughs). I was with him, only. James Franklin and he tied my hands and legs, and said ‘now you have to open’. They were in so much masti they have taped my mouth and forgot all about me. Party got over and in the morning, when a cleaner came, he saw me and freed me. They asked from when have I been here like this and I told them, ‘from the night itself’.
And when the podcast host asks him if Symonds and Franklin apologised to him in the morning, Chahal says, “No, they said sometimes when they drink “juice” so much, they can’t handle it and they can’t remember anything”.
