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Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh hung up his boots from all forms of cricket on Friday, December 24. In a career spanning more than two decades, Harbhajan picked up truckloads of wickets across formats in what was a truly decorated career.
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Harbhajan Singh has been a part of India's 2007 World T20 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 winning teams. Harbhajan has also won the Indian Premier League (IPL) thrice with Mumbai Indians (MI) and once with Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Harbhajan was also the captain of MI when they won the Champions League T20 title in 2011.
While his success in Tests and One-Day Internationals is well-documented, it is fair to point out Harbhajan Singh's success in the shortest format. Harbhajan, the T20 bowler, has made innumerable match-winning contributions in international cricket, as well as the IPL. Harbhajan represented India in 28 T20 internationals and picked up 25 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.21.
In the IPL, Harbhajan played 10 seasons for the Mumbai Indians before representing the Chennai Super Kings for a couple of seasons. His final IPL appearance was with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2021. Overall, in 163 IPL appearances, Harbhajan scalped 150 wickets while he holds the record for the most dot balls bowled in the history of the tournament.
On that note, let's revisit five of Harbhajan Singh's finest performances in all T20 cricket:
#5 2/26 for MI versus CSK in 2015
In Qualifier 1 of IPL 2015 pit, Chennai Super Kings were up against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Electing to bat first, the West Indian duo of Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard powered MI to a score of 187/6. In reply, CSK were in a spot of bother before Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina put the innings back on track with a solid partnership.
The 11th over of the innings saw Harbhajan Singh break open the contest in favor of MI. He prized out Suresh Raina with a flighted delivery and had the southpaw chip one straight back at him. Immediately after, Harbhajan had CSK skipper MS Dhoni trapped plumb in front for a golden duck to completely turn the tables.
Harbhajan finished with figures of 2/26 from his four overs and CSK were bowled out for 162. The spell went a long way in putting MI into the summit clash. There they came up trumps against CSK yet again to lift their 2nd IPL title.
#4 1/24 versus Australia in the ICC World T20 2007
This was perhaps one of Harbhajan Singh's lesser talked about contributions to India. The semifinal of the inaugural ICC World T20 2007 saw India and Australia lock horns at Kingsmead in Durban. Powered by a blistering 30-ball 70 from Yuvraj Singh, India racked up 188/5 in the first half.
Australia's chase was powered by Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds and they were in pole position to overhaul the target. The game was in the balance when both batters were dismissed. However, with 30 to win off three overs, the pressure was on. It was down to Harbhajan Singh to then deliver a crucial 18th over and boy, did the offie step up!
In what was a masterclass in defensive bowling, Harbhajan yorked Michael Clarke first ball to rattle the leg pole. He then followed it up with darts fired in very full and gave all of three runs off the remainder of the over.
That brought the equation to 27 needed off the last two overs. The duo of RP Singh and Joginder Sharma then held their nerves to put India into the final.
Harbhajan Singh had figures of 1/24. With the context of the game heading into the 18th over, his spell went a long way in ensuring India pulled off a tight defense.
#3 5/18 versus CSK in 2011
Harbhajan Singh picked up his first and only five-wicket haul in the IPL during the 2011 season. It was at the Wankhede Stadium against Chennai Super Kings where Harbhajan led the way for Mumbai Indians' thrilling eight-run win.
Asked to bat first, MI were struggling for a good part of the innings before a blistering 87 from Rohit Sharma powered them to a competitive 164/4.
In reply, CSK were in control of the chase despite a couple of early wickets. This was thanks to Mike Hussey and Subramaniam Badrinath steering the ship. Harbhajan picked up the all-important wicket of Suresh Raina prior to the Hussey-Badrinath stand.
Hussey and skipper MS Dhoni fell quickly but with Badrinath looking solid with a lot of batting to come, CSK were still favorites. Enter Harbhajan Singh. The veteran offie took out Anirudha Srikkanth before scalping three wickets in the 18th over to register his maiden five-for in the IPL. Harbhajan's spell of 5/18 derailed the CSK chase and catapulted MI to an eight-run victory.
#2 3/27 versus RCB in 2015
Mumbai Indians lost their first four games in IPL 2015 and were staring down the abyss early in the competition. In a must-win clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Bengaluru, MI racked up a mammoth 209/7. This was courtesy of half-centuries from Unmukt Chand and Lendl Simmons.
In reply, the RCB innings never got going with Chris Gayle struggling to get his timing right. With the pressure of the dot balls piling up, skipper Rohit Sharma introduced Harbhajan Singh into the attack in the fifth over.
The set Manvinder Bisla was first castled by the veteran. Harbhajan then returned to put Gayle out of his misery in the ninth over, bowling him through the gate.
AB de Villiers came out all guns blazing, not showing respect to a certain Lasith Malinga either. With MI under pressure, Rohit turned to Harbhajan and he responded with the wicket of Rilee Rossouw - once again, bowled. Once de Villiers was dismissed soon after, the result was a formality. Harbhajan was awarded the Player of the Match in what was his 100th IPL appearance.
#1 4/12 against England in the ICC World T20 2012
Ahead of the ICC World T20 2012, Harbhajan Singh had lost his place in the Indian team to fellow off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. However, Harbhajan was in line for a comeback having been named in India's squad for the marquee event in Sri Lanka.
In India's second Group A fixture against England in Colombo, Harbhajan Singh was brought back for his first international game in over a year. It turned out to be a memorable outing for the 'Turbanator' who had the English batters dancing to his tunes.
Defending 170, India's bowlers didn't put a foot wrong with the English batters looking clueless from start to finish. It started with an early double-wicket burst from Irfan Pathan. Then the duo of Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla bamboozled the English middle-order with combined figures of 8-3-25-6.
Harbhajan castled Eoin Morgan off just the second delivery he sent down, before scalping three more to finish with 4/12 off his four overs. His spell also included two maiden overs, as England folded for a paltry score of 80. Unsurprisingly, Harbhajan walked away with the Player of the Match award.
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