Dhoni, Bhajji in whisky war_telugutouch.com

Spinner Harbhajan Singh doesn't find his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's sense of humour amusing at all, as his legal team has sent a notice to the Vijay Mallya's UB Group over a TV commercial where MSD is poking fun at Harbhajan's role in a rival advertisement for Royal Stag.

Bhajji's angry mum Avtar Kaur has sent the notice on behalf of her son. Mrs Kaur believes that such adverts will wreck havoc with Team India's unity. Their legal team is demanding both an unconditional apology and for the commercial to be taken off air.

When asked what they will be doing about this legal notice, Prakash Mirpuri, corporate communications spokesperson for Mr Mallya, said "There is no comment at this time." It is understood that the legal papers were filed by Harbhajan Singh's lawyers very late on Saturday night on Mr Mallya's liquor empire. Mr Mallya's lawyers are studying the issue in detail and a statement may be expected in a day or two.

While the lawyers are taking their time, cricket expert Ayaz Memon says fans don't have to worry about a rift in the cricket team because it takes more than a commercial to break the team's bond. "I haven't seen the adverts, but don't think they will affect Bhajji and Dhoni's relationship. These cricketers often get just two or three days to shoot the ads and at that time it probably doesn't even register that what they are saying might offend someone," he says. He feels it's more a case of Bhajji's mum getting upset as she is suing UB for just Rs 1 lakh, to cover the lawyer fees and cost of sending the notice. "Rivalry must be existing only between the brands not players," says Menon.

Interestingly, Harbhajan and Dhoni were being managed by the same agents last year for a few months — Rhiti Sports and Mindscapes One venture. But when the president for marketing, Sangeet Shirodkar, quit a few months after the companies entered into a partnership, he took his close friend Harbhajan Singh along with him and started his own company. "Two cricketers who were being represented by the same company just a year ago are now fighting each other, perhaps because of their agent falling out," said a source.

However, Sangeet's take is, "Harbhajan and Dhoni are still good friends. The notice has been issued by Bhajji's mother as the advert has hurt the family and the Sikh community's feelings." He added, "You can't pit two cricketers against each other. They have played together for so many years and have won India the World Cup. We can't let someone take a dig and go unpunished. I'm not sure if even Dhoni knew that he was doing an ad like this."

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• Dhoni
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