3 memories of Harbhajan Singh on the cricket field

Harbhajan Singh was a match-winner for team India in his Test career of 17 years. The off-spinner has picked up 417 wickets in 103 Tests at an average of 32.46. The Turbanator picked up five wickets in an innings on 25 occasions and ten scalps in a match on five occasions.

Apart from red-ball cricket, he was an indispensable member of the Indian ODI and T20I teams and a part of the squad that won the World Cup in 2011 and the T20 World Cup in 2007.

He was a threat with the ball, especially on Indian pitches, where he picked up 265 Test wickets at an average of 28.77.

On the occasion of his 42nd birthday, here is a look at his three memorable performances on the cricket field:

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#1 Australia vs India 2001 - 32 wickets:

Harbhajan Singh picked up 32 wickets in 3 match Test series against Australia in 2001

Harbhajan Singh had an ordinary start to his Test career. He made his Test debut in 1998, and before Australia toured India in 2001, he played eight Tests and picked up 21 wickets in the said Test.

The series against Australia at home was a career-defining one for the off-spinner. He picked up 32 wickets in the said series at an astonishing average of 17.03. In the 3-match series, he picked up ten wickets in two Tests, i.e., in Kolkata and Chennai. His 13 wickets in the Kolkata Test also included a hat-trick.

By the time the third Test was played in Chennai, Harbhajan was a different bowler. He continued to torment the Australian batters, and the Aussies had no answer to his spin. He picked up 15 wickets in the Chennai Test and bowled India to a memorable series win.

Out of his 32 wickets, he dismissed Ricky Ponting five times and Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh, and Mark Waugh three times apiece.

By the time the series was complete, Harbhajan was a star, and he never looked back and was an indispensable part of the Indian Test outfit both at home and overseas for the next decade or so.

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#2 New Zealand vs India 2010 - 315 runs at an average of 105:

Harbhajan Singh scored 2 centuries against New Zealand in 2010

New Zealand toured India for a 3-match Test series towards the end of 2010. Harbhajan Singh was supposed to be a threat to the visitors with the ball. He had an ordinary outing with the ball in the 3-match series, having picked up only ten wickets at an average of 42.

However, he created an impact with the bat and scored two centuries and one half-century in the four innings he batted in the said series.

In the first Test in Ahmedabad, he scored an impressive half-century in the first innings. India were in trouble in the second innings, having lost six wickets for only 65 runs. Harbhajan and Laxman added 163 runs for the 7th wicket, and Bhajji subsequently scored his maiden Test century. He scored 115 runs from 193 balls, including 11 boundaries and three maximums.

He followed up his maiden century with another in the next Test at Hyderabad. The ton was an aggressive and counter-attacking one. He was unbeaten on 111 from 116 balls, including seven boundaries and seven sixes.

India won the 3-match Test series by a margin of 1-0 after winning the third Test in Nagpur. Harbhajan made the said series memorable by scoring two Test centuries, the only two in his illustrious cricketing career.

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#3 ICC World T20 2007 - 7 wickets at an average of 25.86:

Harbhajan Singh was crucial to India's bowling at the 2007 ICC World Twenty20

India were crowned the first-ever champions in the T20 format in the ICC World T20 in South Africa.

R. P. Singh and Irfan Pathan were exceptional in the tournament, picking up wickets with the new ball and the death overs. While R. P. Singh picked up 12 wickets, Irfan had ten wickets to his name in the said tournament.

Harbhajan Singh, although did not pick up many wickets for team India in the said tournament, was the unsung hero for India. He bowled the middle-overs with minimum fuss and kept the run rate under control.

His seven wickets in the tournament came at an average of around 26 and an economy rate of less than 8.

He played a mature role in guiding the young Indian bowlers. The off-spinner played the perfect supporting role to the pace bowlers in the said tournament in conditions that were not very favorable to spinners.