There is something about Eden Gardens that turns Harbhajan Singh on. He got in on the action early enough on Wednesday, entrusted the responsibility of increasing the Indian lead over South Africa’s 305. And there he was, batting the way only he can, and having an effect on the opposition in a way only he can. Not often will you see an opposition smiling or laughing when a batsman hits them around, but Bhajji manages that, and manages that oftener than not. And — since we are on the topic of laughing — Bhajji was the one laughing the widest at the end of the day’s play. With the ball in his hand — he looks considerably better than when with the bat — Bhajji scraped out the upper crust of the Safs’ batting order, and if the Indians sleep well tonight, having effectively reduced South Africa to 66/5, they will have Bhajji to thank for it. It all started in the 17th over of the Safs’ innings, after new ball bowlers Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan had had little effect on opener Graeme Smith and Andrew Hall. It was a whole new game after that and with the Eden Gardens pitch providing the right amount of rough and bounce for him, Harbhajan was on his way to repeating 2001. He mixed his deliveries beautifully and kept the batsmen guessing at all times. Offies, top-spinners, doosras, yorkers.Bhajji bowled them all. But most importantly, he did what the Australians do so well: strike early. And his end-of-the-day figures of four for 58 probably don’t explain the whole story. For as long as he was in the attack, the safs were wrapped up in knots. Hall went gloving a sweep to one that bounced a touch extra, Jacques Rudolph padded up to a viciously spinning doosra, Smith outside-edged one to a brilliant slip catch by VVS Laxman and Hashim Alma went — maybe unluckily — bat-padding one behind the stumps. He also had Jacques Kallis, but umpire Daryl Harper missed spotting an inside edge to forward short-leg Gautam Gambhir. Bhajji also didn’t disappoint his growing legion of fans who wait for the Sardar to lose his cool at the first opportunity. Moments after the Kallis appeal was disallowed, Harbhajan showed his disappointment by starting his chats with Smith and Kallis. He even seemed to cross the line somewhat when he knocked off a stump at the bowler’s end, in reaction to nothing of any apparent import. He appealed for everything and had a word for every situation. The effect? Nothing apparent, but Smith did get out soon after. Kallis still stands and if you check with Harbhajan, he’ll know that the onus will be on him to get Kallis out a second time. And then, there is the tail for his picking. SCOREBOARD
