Harbhajan Singh turns 44: A look at Turbanator’s memorable feats on cricket pitch

Former India off spinner Harbhajan Singh turned 44 years old on Wednesday, June 3 as wishes poured in from the entire cricketing fraternity. Several former cricketers namely Suresh Raina, Gautam Gmabhir, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Wriddhiman Saha extended their birthday greetings to the veteran spinner.

Harbhajan made his international debut against Australia in March 1998 and went on to play for 18 long years for the country. The Punjab-born cricketer played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is in his career and finished as the third-highest wicket-taker for the country in international cricket with 707 wickets to his name at an average of 32.59 and an economy of 3.32.

The Historic 2001 Border Gavaskar Trophy

The off-spinner rose to the limelight during the famous 2001 India vs Australia series where he finished as the highest wicket-taker of the series with 32 wickets to his name from six innings at an average of 17.03 and an economy of 3.05. During the historic second Test in Kolkata, Harbhajan became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket during the first innings of the match.

The off-spinner became just the third Indian and 11^th overall player to complete 400 wickets in Tests by dismissing West Indies’ Carlton Baugh in July 2011. After wreaking havoc with the ball for the first 12 years in his career, Harbhajan flexed his batting muscles during the three-match Test series against New Zealand in 2010 finishing as the fourth-highest run scorer of the series with 315 runs to his name from four innings at an average of 105 and with two hundreds and a fifty.

Champions League Triumph as skipper

Apart from that, he also took ten wickets during the series from five innings and was adjudged as Player of the Series for his incredible all-round show. He also recorded 14 sixes during the series which was then joint highest number of maximums scored in a three-match series.

A year later, Harbhajan also captained the MI IPL franchise and led them to their first ever Champions League triumph in 2011. The Turbanator played an integral part in India’s 2007 and 2011 World Cup victories and last played for the country in a T20I against UAE IN 2016. Harbhajan finally announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on December 21, 2024.