Looking back at Harbhajan Singh's last match in all formats of cricket

Harbhajan Singh played his last international match for India in 2016
Harbhajan Singh played his last international match for India in 2016

Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all formats of cricket earlier today. The right-arm off-spinner decided to draw the curtains on his career more than five years after his last international appearance for the Indian cricket team.

Singh was once India's lead off-spinner in all formats of cricket. He won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 with the Men in Blue. However, his form dipped after the 2011 World Cup and he lost his place in the Indian squads.

The 41-year-old made a comeback to the Indian team in 2015-16. He even earned a place in India's Asia Cup and T20 World Cup squads but played only one game across both tournaments. He warmed the benches during the entire T20 World Cup 2016 despite India playing in spin-friendly home conditions.

Now that Harbhajan Singh has ended his career, let's have a look back at his last international match in all three formats of cricket.


Test Cricket - August 15, 2015 vs. Sri Lanka, Galle

Harbhajan Singh took one wicket in his last Test match
Harbhajan Singh took one wicket in his last Test match

Harbhajan Singh's last Test appearance for India came in August 2015. It was Virat Kohli's first overseas Test as India's full-time captain. The Indian team locked horns with Sri Lanka in Galle.

The visitors took 192-run first-innings lead. However, a 162-run knock from Dinesh Chandimal brought Sri Lanka back into the contest. Rangana Herath then picked up a seven-wicket haul in the second innings to bowl India out for just 112 runs in a chase of 176.

Sri Lanka won that game by 63 runs. Harbhajan Singh went wicketless in the first innings but picked up Jehan Mubarak's wicket in the second innings. He scored 15 runs in his last Test, and Herath was the last player to dismiss him in Tests.


ODI - October 25, 2015 vs. South Africa, Mumbai

Harbhajan Singh did not play a single ODI match in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The off-spinner made a comeback to the 50-over team in 2015 and played seven games, including his last ODI, that year.

Singh's last ODI appearance was against South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium. AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis destroyed the Indian bowling attack in that game. The trio scored a century each and guided the visitors to a massive score of 438/4.

Chasing 439, India lost all their wickets of 224 runs and lost by 214 runs. Harbhajan Singh bowled a spell of 1/70 in that fixture. His last ODI wicket was the scalp of Farhaan Behardien, while in his last ODI inning, Singh was dismissed by Dale Steyn for a duck.


Harbhajan Singh's last match for India: T20I - March 3, 2016 vs. UAE, Dhaka

The India vs. UAE game of the Asia Cup 2016 proved to be Harbhajan Singh's last game in Indian colors. The right-arm off-spinner bowled an economical spell of 4-1-11-1 in that game.

Singh accounted for the wicket of UAE skipper Amjad Javed that night in Dhaka. A fine effort from the Indian bowlers kept the UAE down to 81/9 in 20 overs. India chased the 82-run target in just 10.1 overs with nine wickets in hand.

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Edited by Parimal
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