5 bowling records of Harbhajan Singh that we should know

Harbhajan Singh had made his Test debut for India on 25 March 1998 against Australia at Bangalore and he picked up only two wickets in that game. As days passed by, he became a more mature bowler and he created and broke many records during his career while playing for India. He has taken 707 wickets for India from 365 international matches to date, the second most by any Indian bowler after Anil Kumble.

Sometimes an individual bowler is forced to handle the responsibilities of the entire bowling attack and Harbhajan Singh has done that throughout his career and helped India to win many matches. On the occasion of Harbhajan Singh’s 36th birthday, Sportskeeda presents 5 Harbhajan Singh records that everyone should know.

#1 - First Indian player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket

Harbhajan Singh was the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. He achieved this milestone against Australia in Kolkata in 2001. His victims were Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Shane Warne. Overall, he took 13 wickets in the match and India went to win the match.

The heroics from Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman helped India create history. Irfan Pathan is another bowler who has taken a hat-trick for India and he achieved that milestone against Pakistan on 29 January 2006 at Karachi. His victims were Salman Butt, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf.

#2 - Most wickets by a visiting bowler in Sri Lanka

A unique record from Bhajji in international cricket

Harbhajan Singh has taken most wickets in Sri Lanka as a visiting bowler. He has played 48 international matches in Sri Lanka and taken 79 wickets so far. Here is a list of top-5 visiting bowlers taking most wickets in Sri Lanka in international cricket to date.

Player name	Country	Matches	Wickets
Harbhajan Singh	India	48	79
Zaheer Khan	India	48	68
Saeed Ajmal	Pakistan	29	66
Shane Warne	Australia	20	64
Anil Kumble	India	44	62

#3 - Most wickets by an Indian bowler in a calendar year in international cricket

Harbhajan Singh picked up 102 wickets across all formats in 2002

Harbhajan Singh holds the record of taking most wickets in international cricket in a calendar year. He took 102 wickets in 2002 which is the most by an Indian bowler in a calendar year in international cricket to date.

In fact, there are only two Indian bowlers who have taken 100 wickets in a calendar year in international cricket to date, one is Harbhajan Singh and other is Kapil Dev who had taken 100 wickets in international cricket in 1983. Here is a list of top-5 Indian bowlers with most wickets in a particular calendar year.

Player name	Year	Matches	Wickets
Harbhajan Singh	2002	40	102
Kapil Dev	1983	36	100
Anil Kumble	1996	40	90
Zaheer Khan	2002	37	89
Anil Kumble	1999	40	88

#4 - Most wickets by an Indian second change bowler in international matches

Harbhajan Singh beats Anil Kumble by a whisker in this record

Kapil Dev has taken most wickets for India while opening the bowling and Anil Kumble has taken most wickets as a first change bowler for India in international cricket to date but as a second change bowler, Harbhajan Singh has taken most wickets for India in international cricket to date.

He has taken 349 wickets as a second change bowler from 208 matches. Here is a list that includes top-5 Indian bowlers with most wickets as a second change bowler in international cricket to date.

Player name	Matches	Wickets
Harbhajan Singh	208	349
Anil Kumble	166	348
BS Chandrasekhar	32	126
Ravi Ashwin	64	111
Bishen Singh Bedi	35	96

#5 – Harbhajan Singh and Australian greats – Who comes out on top?

Harbhajan Singh vs Ricky Ponting

We all know the love between Harbhajan Singh and Australian players but let’s look at that in a statistical manner which can put you in a quandary on who is the best – Harbhajan Singh or these all time Australian greats?

Ricky Ponting had been dismissed by Harbhajan Singh 13 times in his career, the most by any bowler.

Matthew Hayden had been dismissed by Harbhajan Singh 13 times in his career, the most by any bowler.

Adam Gilchrist had been dismissed by Harbhajan Singh 11 times in his career, the joint second most by any bowler to date.

Let’s look at the top 5 favourite victims of Harbhajan Singh in international cricket.

Player name	Country	No. of times dismissed by Harbhajan Singh
Ricky Ponting	Australia	13
Matthew Hayden	Australia	13
TM Dilshan	Sri Lanka	12
Adam Gilchrist	Australia	11
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	10