Harbhajan Singh, who last played for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021, has announced his retirement from all forms of the game as he brought an end to career spanning 23 years.
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Harbhajan Singh, the last of the Indian cricketers to have played international cricket in the 90s, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In a career spanning 23 years, Harbhajan Singh played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs, and 28 Twenty20 Internationals. In a Twitter post, Harbhajan announced the decision. “All good things come to an end and today as I bid adieu to the game that has given me everything in life, I would like to thank everyone who made this 23-year-long journey beautiful and memorable. My heartfelt thank you. Grateful.”
It has been speculated that Harbhajan Singh might join politics and this announcement is a precursor to that. Harbhajan last played for India in 2013 but was a vital member of many franchises in the IPL. He was part of the victorious Mumbai Indians team while he also helped Chennai Super Kings to the 2018 title. Harbhajan’s stock fell with the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. His retirement means that there is no active cricketer from India who is playing from the 90s.
All good things come to an end and today as I bid adieu to the game that has given me everything in life, I would like to thank everyone who made this 23-year-long journey beautiful and memorable.
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 24, 2021
My heartfelt thank you ? Grateful .https://t.co/iD6WHU46MU
If there is one country against whom Harbhajan Singh has always had a heated relationship, it was Australia. Right from his playing days when he clashed with Ricky Ponting in the tri-series in Sharjah, Harbhajan has always been aggressive. In fact, the brilliance of the Jalandhar offspinner came in the 2001 series against Australia.
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Under the captaincy of Steve Waugh, Australia had won 16 consecutive Tests and was gunning for No.17. But, Harbhajan Singh had other ideas. He took a hat-trick and ended with 14 wickets in the match. Harbhajan’s spectacular bowling display saw him end with 32 wickets in that series as India denied Australia’s mission for World Domination was thwarted.
When Harbhajan went to Australia in 2008, he was involved in the infamous Monkeygate Scandal that saw accusations of racism. Harbhajan was found not guilty but the strain in India-Australia relations was evident. But, if one has to look at the career of Harbhajan, then it is his duels with Australia that made him one of the greatest spinners to have come from India.
In 103 Tests, Harbhajan Singh took 417 wickets with 25 five-wicket hauls. His best haul of 15/217 came in the Chennai Test against Australia in 2001. For a long time, Harbhajan’s record stood. Recently, it was overhauled by Ashwin in the Kanpur Test against New Zealand.
Harbhajan Singh’s last Test came against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2015. Before that, his final ODI and T20I came against South Africa in Mumbai and UAE in the Asia Cup in Dhaka in 2016. Harbhajan formed a memorable duo with Anil Kumble and they were dubbed the new ‘Spin Twins’ or ‘Terror Turners’. Out of his 417 wickets, he took 265 wickets at home at an average of 28.
Although he struggled overseas, he is forgotten as the prime factor for India’s only Test win in New Zealand in the last 45 years. During the Test in Hamilton in 2009, Harbhajan took 6/63 and helped India win the Test in Seddon Park by 10 wickets. In 2006, he bowled a spell of 5/13 in Jamaica that helped India beat the West Indies for the first time in 35 years in a Test series.
The contributions of Harbhajan Singh are immense. Indian cricket will forever be grateful for the many match-winning performances that he put in over a two-decade career.
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