Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh Friday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup winner released a statement on his social media account to announce the big decision. The legendary off-spinner last played for India on March 03, 2016, against UAE in the T20 World Cup. However, he was constantly 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 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”
Harbhajan was one of the biggest match-winners for India during his playing days as he has been part of several historic wins. The off-spinner made his debut for India on March 25, 1998. He didn’t take much time to make an impact amongst several big names in the Indian team. He took two wickets on his debut against Australia.
However, it was the 2001 Test series against Australia, where Harbhajan took the cricketing world by a storm. India lost the first match of the series and was on verge of losing the second at Eden Gardens but spectacular performances from VVS Laxman and Harbhajan changes the script. Laxman was the hero with the bat with his 281-run knock. While a young Harbhajan spun the web around mighty Australia batting line-up. He picked a whopping seven wickets in the first innings to stop Australia at a score of 445. It was a 13-wicket haul for the off-spinner as he picked six wickets in the last innings to stop the visitors at a mere score of 212. Harbhajan helped India in winning the crucial game by 171 runs to level the series by 1-1.
He continued to trouble the Aussie batters in the final Test as he claimed 15 wickets across two innings. The Turbanator returned with the figures of 38.2-6-133-7 followed by 41.5-20-84-8 in the next innings. As Harbhajan brought his ‘A’ game to the fore, India won the series decider by two wickets.
Harbhajan finished his career with some magnificent numbers, in 103 Tests he claimed 417 wickets. While in 236 ODIs, the offie claimed 269 scalps. The 41-year-old was also known for his lower-order batting exploits as he has a couple of Test centuries registered on his name.
