At his peak, he could get wickets anywhere, on any surface. When the ball left Harbhajan Singh’s hands while he was bowling well, it took an age for it come down.
But when it did strike the pitch, it foxed even the best in the business. 23 years since he first played for India, Harbhajan called it quits on Friday, with a tally of 711 international wickets, two World Cup medals and multiple IPL titles to his name.
But some players go beyond the numbers and Harbhajan, for a long time was one such player. When he first burst onto the cricketing scene, he was a slim figure, with a turban on his head and it seemed like someone had just picked him straight out of school and got him to the cricket field.
The next few years proved to be a real test of character for him, as he was asked to leave the National Cricket Academy on disciplinary grounds, he lost his father and he could not find a regular place for him in the Indian team.
But all that was to change in the summer of 2001, when with Anil Kumble injured, India had to search for a spinner, who was able enough to pick up Australian wickets.
There was Sarandeep Singh in domestic cricket. Venkatapathy Raju had been a part of the Indian setup in the 90s. But something must have told captain Sourav Ganguly, that for India to compete against Australia, it had to be the skih from Jalandhar, who had to rise to the fore and deliver the goods.
What happened over the course of the following few weeks is now a stuff of legend. Harbhajan claimed 32 Test wickets, India won a memorable series and there was just no stopping him after that.
Harbhajan’s performance in that series gave Ganguly so much faith that he even began picking him over the experienced pro Anil Kumble and it was not until he himself got injured in late 2003, that Kumble began to get a more permanent place in the Indian side, after which India more or less went with both spinners and won plenty of matches.
But post-2005, things started to change in Harbhajan’s career. With Ganguly no longer captain, it almost felt as if someone had taken a bit of energy out of him. The performances were coming, but perhaps not with the same verve as they did before and that culminated with the infamous early exit at the 2007 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean.
Dropped from the side for close to six months, Harbhajan was recalled for the 2007 T20 World Cup and soon, sorrow converted to joy. The pain of Trinidad was replaced by the elation at Johannesburg and the world felt like a nice place again.
Except, a few months on, Harbhajan found himself in one of the murkiest phases of his career. At Sydney, he was alleged to have passed racist comments and was suspended from playing the game for a while. A few months later, he was in the middle of another controversy, when he reportedly had ‘slapped’ S Sreesanth after an IPL game.
The combative side to not just the cricketer, but the man had come out once again. But Harbhajan by now had become a more recognisable figure in the game and had not turn a corner very soon.
After passing through that phase, it seemed like Harbhajan did emerge a better cricketer as he helped India beat Australia at home in late 2008, played a pivotal role in India’s Test match win in Hamilton in 2009, which also eventually helped them win the series in New Zealand for the first time since 1967, featured in the team that climbed to the top of Test match rankings, got twin Test hundreds against New Zealand in 2010, played a crucial role in India’s inspiring Test win at Durban in 2010 and the phase culminated with the emotional 2011 World Cup win.
Just like the 2007 T20 World Cup had served as a balm to the wounds of the 50-over World Cup, the 2011 50-over World Cup erased the pain of the 2003 50-over World Cup.
But, things turned for the worse again for Harbhajan, a few months later as he got injured in England. That year, in the World Cup, India had on occasions played R Ashwin because they saw something new in him, something promising in him.
Once Harbhajan was injured, India opted to play Ashwin more regularly and as Harbhajan took more time to recover and get back, Ashwin steadily began to cement his place in the side.
It wasn’t until the 2012 T20 World Cup that Harbhajan returned to the Indian team. But Ashwin by then had really a lot more glimpses of the potential that he possessed, Pragyan Ojha had been bowling well and when India drafted Ravindra Jadeja into the Test setup in 2012, you could see the writing on the wall for Harbhajan.
The biggest highlight for Harbhajan in that phase came in Chennai in 2013, when he played his 100th Test match for India.
It wasn’t until 2015 that Harbhajan once again played Test cricket for India and in early-2016, it was all over.
India did not pick him post the T20 World Cup at home, but he built a legacy for himself in the IPL, becoming a crucial member to Mumbai Indians’ success, later featuring in Chennai Super Kings’ emotional win in 2018.
Right till the very end, if there was one feature to Harbhajan, it was that he never gave up. Something within him obviously remained convinced he still had it in him to play and do well for India.
But everything has its time and at 41, even he knew that time had run its course.
The retirement of Harbhajan also marks the end of a era in Indian cricket. It was an era which began with a lot of gloom surrounding the sport at the time and when Ganguly took over the reigns in 2000, there was a lot of nervous energy associated with the team.
But how that team, under Ganguly, performed in the subsequent five years! And how Harbhajan was backed by Ganguly will remain a tale to tell for many years to come. With Harbhajan bidding adieu to the sport, it means that every member, who featured consistently in Ganguly’s reign as captain, have now retired. They may never play again, but the memories will stay forever.
