Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup winner announced this big decision by issuing a statement on his social media account. The legendary off-spinner last played for India on 03 March 2016 in the T20 World Cup against the United Arab Emirates. However, he was a frequent part of the Indian Premier League and played for Kolkata Knight Riders last season.
The 41-year-old took to Twitter and wrote: “All good things come to an end and today as I say goodbye to the sport that has given me everything in life, I want to thank all those who have spent this 23 years Made – long journey beautiful and memorable. My heartfelt thanks”
All good things come to an end and today as I say goodbye to the sport that has given me everything in life, I want to thank everyone who made this 23 year long journey beautiful and memorable. Thank you from my heart 🙏 Thank you.https://t.co/iD6WHU46MU— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 24, 2021
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Harbhajan was one of the biggest match winners for India during his playing days as he has been a part of many historic victories. The off-spinner made his debut for India on 25 March 1998. He did not take much time to make an impact among the many big names in the Indian team. He took two wickets in his debut match against Australia.
However, it was the 2001 Test series against Australia where Harbhajan took the cricketing world by storm. India lost the first match of the series and were on the verge of losing the second at the Eden Gardens but brilliant performances from VVS Laxman and Harbhajan changed the script. Laxman was the hero with the bat with an innings of 281 runs. While a young Harbhajan weaves a net around the mighty Australia batting line-up. He took seven wickets in the first innings to restrict Australia to 445. It was 13 wickets for the off-spinner as he took six wickets in the previous innings to restrict the visitors to 212. Harbhajan helped India level the series 1-1 by winning the crucial game by 171 runs.
He continued to trouble the Australian batsmen in the final Test as he took 15 wickets in two innings. Turbanator returned with figures of 38.2-6-133-7 and 41.5-20-84-8 in the next innings. As Harbhajan put up his ‘A’ game, India won the series decider by two wickets.
After this Harbhajan did not look back and became an integral part of the Indian cricket team. He was an automatic starter for India in both ODIs and Tests for many years and Harbhajan was also a dominant force when it came to T20I cricket. He was one of the senior professionals in India’s successful 2007 T20 World Cup campaign and played his role quite well. The off-spinner took 7 wickets in the same number of matches on the fast paced pitches of South Africa.
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In the 2011 ODI World Cup, Harbhajan was once again the senior spinner in the Indian side and was the bowler for skipper MS Dhoni. He took 9 wickets in the same number of matches as India won the ODI World Cup after 28 years.
However, Harbhajan’s name was also associated with some major controversies. The 2008 Sydney Test between India and Australia made headlines for all the wrong reasons and Harbhajan along with Andrew Symonds was the center of attraction. The veteran spinner was accused of using racial slurs against Symonds and was suspended for three Tests. However, the BCCI took a stand against it and they even threatened to pull out of the tour. Eventually, Harbhajan’s sentence was reduced to a 50% match-fee fine.
2008 was a year of forgetfulness for Harbhajan as he was involved in another big controversy ‘Slapgate’. In the inaugural season of IPL, Harbhajan, who plays for Mumbai Indians, slapped S Sreesanth of Kings XI Punjab after the match. The incident shook the cricketing world as the veteran spinner was suspended from the remainder of the season and the BCCI handed him a five-match ODI ban.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan ended his career with some impressive numbers, taking 417 wickets in 103 Tests. Whereas in 236 ODIs, Offi claimed 269 scalps. The 41-year-old was also known for his lower-order batting exploits as he has a few Test centuries to his name.
Post retirement, there are reports that Harbhajan will join the support staff of a major IPL franchise as he has always shown keen interest in grooming players.
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