Harbhajan Singh Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

Harbhajan Singh

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DateLine: 5th June 2008

 

Harbhajan Singh has mixed passion with aggression to become India’s most successful off-spin bowler. Although his action has been subject to a lot of attention and he has undergone three bio-mechanical tests to erase any faults, he still exercises great command over the ball, has the ability to vary his length and pace, and can turn it the other way too, the potent ‘doosra’.

 

His main wicket-taking ball, however, is the one that climbs wickedly on the unsuspecting batsman from a good length, forcing him to alter his stroke at the last second. In March 2001, it proved all too much for the near invincible Australians, as Harbhajan collected 32 wickets in three Tests, including the first Test hat-trick by an Indian, while none of his team-mates managed more than three. This is a record haul for any three test series.

 

But since then, he has been on the wane, never managing to reach those heights again. This has been attributed much to a lack of loop and flight, as his main incentive recently has been to dry up all the runs. His overseas record as a result is not too good as he averages nearly 40 per wicket outside India, while at home he averages just over 25.

 

He can bat a bit too and has hit four test fifties, scoring 1000 runs in the process. His rivalry with the Australians has often made headlines, who seem to have it against him ever since the series in 2001. It esulted in an on-field spat during Australia's tour of India in October 2007 but things boiled over in Sydney in January 2008 when Harbhajan was charged with racially abusing Andrew Symonds. In April later the same year, Harbhajan was involved in another controversy, this time with his Indian team-mate S. Sreesanth, whom he slapped after an IPL game in Mohali. He pleaded guilty at a hearing and was banned for 11 IPL matches and a further 5 ODIs.

 

He made only five IPL appearances for the Mumbai Indians, whom he led in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar.

 

Since then he has done well to pick up 16 wickets in the two test series in Sri Lanka and followed it up with his 300th test wicket in Nagpur of his old foe Ricky Ponting and played a big part with both bat and ball in helping India regain the Border Gavaskar trophy.