Durham to have a word with James Franklin over Chahal's harassment allegations

English cricket county Durham asserted that they will have a word with head coach Franklin privately over Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's physical harassment allegations on Franklin and Andrew Symonds during their time with Mumbai Indians Indian.

Yuzvendra Chahal, in a recent conversation with his Rajasthan Royals' teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, recalled a horrific incident when he was hung from the 15th-floor hotel balcony by a drunk teammate during his stint with Mumbai Indians in 2013. 

However, this was not the first time the leg-spinner was bullied physically while part of Mumbai Indians. He made similar disclosures a couple of months back during a podcast by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chahal revealed how Franklin and Andrew Symonds taped his mouth, tied his hands, left him in a room, and completely forgot about him in the drunken state.  

"It happened in 2011 when Mumbai Indians won the Champions League. We were in Chennai. He [Symonds] had had a lot of 'fruit juice'. I don't know what he was thinking, but he and James Franklin got together and tied my hands and legs and said, 'no, you've to open [the knots]'.

They were so lost that they taped my mouth and forgot about me entirely during the party. Then they all left and, in the morning, someone came to clean [the room], saw me, called a few others, and untied me. They asked me when I had been there, and I said, 'I've been here the whole night'. So that became a funny story," Chahal had revealed on an RCB podcast.

When asked if the duo apologized for their misconduct, Chahal said, "No, they said when you drink so much juice, you don't remember stuff in the morning." 

Meanwhile, in a statement sent to ESPNcricinfo, English county side Durham said that they are aware of the allegations and the club will be speaking "privately" to all the parties involved. They also said that they would collect more facts on it  

"We are aware of recent news reports surrounding an incident in 2011 that named a staff member. 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.

James Franklin was part of the Mumbai Indians squad from 2011 to 2013 and played about 20 games for MI between 2011 to 2012. He was appointed Durham coach in early 2019.