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Harbhajan Singh

Teams: Mumbai Indians, Asia XI, India, India Green, North Zone, Punjab, Rest of India, Chennai Super Kings, India Blue, India A

 

Harbhajan Singh is a cricketer who represented India in all forms of cricket (Test, ODIs, T20Is) as a right arm off-spin bowler and right-handed lower-order batsman. He was the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Before his international career took off, Harbhajan Singh had also represented India in the 1998 U-19 World Cup, where he had taken 8 wickets at an average of 24.75. From suspect bowling action to the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ row, Harbhajan’s international career was dotted by a lot of controversies. He was also part of India’s World Cup winning team of 2011.

 

ODI career

 

Harbhajan Singh made his One Day International (ODI) debut against New Zealand at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium on April 17, 1998. In his 236 matches, Harbhajan scalped 269 wickets at a economy rate of 4.31, including three 5-wickets hauls. In the batting department, he scored 1,237 runs in 128 innings. He has also played brilliant cameos lower down the order to help Team India on many occasions. Harbhajan played a crucial role in India’s 2011 World Cup campaign, scalping nine wickets in the nine matches that he played.

 

IPL career

 

Harbhajan Singh made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) while playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the inaugural season. In the 160 matches he has played so far, Singh has scalped 150 wickets, conceding 7.05 runs per over. His best bowling figures are 5 for 18. In the batting department, he has scored a total of 829 runs at a strike rate of 137.22, and his highest individual score is 64. Harbhajan Singh was an integral part of Mumbai Indians until IPL 2017. However, in the IPL 2018 auction, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bagged him at a base price of Rs 2 crore.

 

T20I career

 

Harbhajan started his T20 International career against South Africa at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on December 1, 2006. In 28 matches, he took 25 wickets at an economy rate of 6.21. While batting, he scored 108 runs at a strike rate of 124.14. Also part of the Indian team that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2017, he took crucial wickets in the semifinal of that tournament against Australia.

 

Test career

 

Harbhajan Singh made his Test debut against Australia at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 25, 1998. After debut, Harbhajan was dropped from the team owing to his average performance. He made a comeback to the Indian Test side after Anil Kumble got injured. He was to lead the spin attack against an Australian team that had set a world record with 16 consecutive Test victories. After India lost the first match of the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Singh’s hat-trick in first innings of the Kolkata Test at Eden Gardens not only threw a spanner in Australia’s unbeaten campaign but also changed his own life. He went on to take 13 wickets in that match, which India won by 171 runs despite a follow-on being enforced against them. He is not part of the Indian Cricket Team in Tests at present. In the 103 matches that he played, he scalped 417 wickets at an average of 32.46, including 25 five-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket hauls. In the batting department, he scored a total of 2,225 runs at an average of 18.24, including two centuries and nine fifties.


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