An off-beat story

Harbhajan Singh came on to the cricketing scenario with a lot of hype as the most genuine off-spinner after Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivasa ...

Harbhajan Singh came on to the cricketing scenario with a lot of hype as the most genuine off-spinner after Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivasa Venkataraghavan. After doubts were cast over his bowling action he was sent to England in the company of Prasanna to correct it. More ignominy followed when he was dropped from the Indian team. The passing away of his father only compounded matters. However, the Australian series at home saw him in full flow which earned him the nickname Turbantor.

DID YOU KNOW

• Harbhajan figured in only the second instance where three Sikhs played for India along with Navjot Sidhu and Harvinder Singh at Bangalore against Australia (1997-98).
• He is the first Indian bowler to claim five or more wickets in an innings consecutively for four innings. The earlier best was three times by L Sivaramakrishnan and Javagal Srinath.
• Adam Gilcrist, who was the second victim of Harbhajan’s hat-trick against Australia was the first player from his team to congratulate Harbhajan in the dressing room.
• Harbhajan is the first bowler to take a hat-trick in 69 years of Test Indian cricket.
• The Herald Sun in Melbourne coined the phrase after Harbhajan’s hat-trick. ‘From party boy to the Turbanator.’ That’s how the name stuck.

A fighter to the core, his attitude is unusually aggressive for a spinner. It was this fighting spirit which saw him bounce back when he was dropped and his statemate Sarandeep Singh was picked in the home series against Zimbabwe. Despite his heroics, it has not been easy for him to shake off the overwhelming presence of veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble. Ahead of the World Cup, if ever a vote is taken as to who will lead the spin department for India, many will vote for Harbhajan. This just goes on to show that the Turbanator has arrived.

HEAD TO HEAD

PAKISTAN
Though Harbhajan has yet to come across Pakistan, it would be interesting to see how Inzamam-ul-Haq deals with him. It will also be a test of his temperament as he is known to get excited very soon and how he reacts to the pressure cooker situation of playing against Pakistan.

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AUSTRALIA
The only time Harbhajan has bowled to Mathew Hayden, he went for a pounding before he managed to stump the hard-hitting left-hander at a dismissal average of 111. With Hayden in peak form, featuring among the top five batsmen currently, Harbhajan will need to work on a perfect line and hope for the best.

ZIMBABWE
The left-handed Andy Flower was the lone batsman to terroris the Indian spinners in their den in the last tour. However, in the two matches that Bhajji has snared Andy Flower, he broke the back of Zimbabwe innings. In his first ODI against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 1998-99 he took three wickets in the space of three overs including a well-set Andy, who made 30 off 33 balls. At Hyderabad in the fourth ODI last season, he took Andy on the second ball that he faced.