First and foremost, my heartiest congratulations to the Turbanator of Indian cricket, Harbhajan Singh, on his phenomenal achievement of getting 400 test scalps.
When he made his debut in 1998 series against the rampaging Australian side led from the front by their charismatic captain, Steven Waugh. Any youngster in his shoes would have definitely felt the butterflies in the stomach facing the army of intimidating Aussie batsmen like Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer,Steven Waugh, Mark Waugh and Darren Lehmann. But not the fiesty sardar from Jalandhar.
It wasn't the series where he asserted his dominance and forged a formidable reputation as one of the best off spinners in the game. But his talent was there for everyone to see. In that ODI series, he dismissed Ricky Ponting with his mysterious 'Doosra' leaving his great batting adversary flummoxed.
This series was touted as the ultimate battle between two champions of the game, Sachin R. Tendulkar v/s Shane Warne. While Sachin took Shane Warne apart, Harbhajan Singh gave the glimpse of his magical ability. That series is now an integral part of cricketing folklore. After that series, Shane Warne went on to admit that he had nightmares of Sachin stepping out of the crease and hitting him out of the park much to his chagrin altough jokingly.
Subsequently, Bhajji as he is nicknamed by his team mates was dropped on disciplinary grounds. His trademark fiesty quality came to the fore in the One Day series when he dismissed Ricky Ponting and everything that followed is now history.
After spending couple of years in wilderness or shall I say finetuning his skills with former ace Indian tweaker, Erapalli Prasanna. When Australia visited India again in the summer of 2001 with even intimidating reputation as the world beaters since the legendary West Indies team led by Clive Lloyds. They were in breathtaking form playing brilliantly and consistently the world over.
In the three match test series, Australians took the lead as expected. What followed is the most memorable fight back in the history of Indian and world cricket. India was in a precarious position having made to follow on. This test match turned the careers of two stalwarts, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman. The latter played the best test innings of his career in a record test partnership with Rahul Dravid. His majestic 281 at packed Eden Gardens was a delight to watch and was applauded for his sheer artistry even by the usually unflappable Aussies and not to mention the rapturous fans across the great Eden.
When India declared their innings after two superb tons by VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, they were in a commanding position for the first time in the series. This is the same test match which established the legacies of VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and of course, Harbhajan Singh.
Australians started their innings in a typical whirlwind style courtesy of Matthew Hayden. But Sourav Ganguly, the Indian skipper, brought the spinning duo of the unflappable Anil Kumble and the feisty Harbhajan Singh. Almost immediately, he hit his straps and extracting extra bounce from the Eden Garden's wicket.
Once he got his first wicket, he ran through the side and single handedly won the test match to level the series. Once the series got over, India defeated their powerful adversary, Australia by taking the series 2-1.
And Harbhajan Singh's legacy began as he went on bag 32 wickets in 3 test match series. That test series was the vindication of the character that perfectly blended with raw talent of Harbhajan Singh and the Indian team.
Today as we speak, Harbhajan Singh is one of the world's best spinners with 402 test wickets and some 350 ODI wickets to boot.
At this point of time, as I write this, India is on the cusp of a series victory in the Carribean Islands against the once mighty West Indies. With much talked about the series against an in-form English side just around the corner, this fiesty sardar will be ready to spin his magic to silence his critics and the loud mouth English team in their own back yard.
Obviously, when the stalwarts in the form of Sachin R. Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan make their much awaited return to Team India. Without an iota of doubt, it's going to be a thrilling series where action will keep you hooked.
Before I leave, my heartiest congratulations to India's ace spinner, Harbhajan Singh on his incredible achievement of reaching the landmark of 402 test wickets. May he spin his magic around the English batsmen and help India defeat the cocky England in their own den.
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