Harbhajan Singh retires: Decoding his career stats
What's the story
India's spin wizard Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Friday. Harbhajan, popularly known as Bhajji, confirmed the news on his official Twitter handle. With this, Harbhajan has brought the curtain down on a remarkable two-decade-long cricketing career. Bhajji enjoyed a lot of success for Team India. Here we decode the career stats of Bhajji.
Context
Why does it matter?
Harbhajan will go down as one of the leading spinners Team India produced. He lacked loop and flight but varied his pace and length well. He was a prodigy with passion, and it was visible during his early exploits. Harbhajan finished his career as the fourth-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests. What Bhajji also showed was longevity and character.
Burst
Harbhajan's burst on the international stage
Harbhajan made his international debut in 1998. But it was the year 2001 when he hogged media headlines after rattling all-conquering Australians. He claimed 32 wickets in three Tests for India during Australia's tour of the country. It included a hat-trick, the first one by an Indian in red-ball. During the series, he made Ricky Ponting his bunny by dismissing him five times.
Controversy
Harbhajan's on-field confrontations with Sreesanth and Symonds
In 2008, Harbhajan landed himself in hot water after he was charged with a racial slur against Andrew Symonds during one of the ugliest controversies of Indian cricket. The racial insult charges were later dropped to abuse on appeal. A few months after that, he highlighted another controversy by slapping S Sreesanth during an IPL match, which led to an entire season ban.
Key role
A two-time world champion
Harbhajan was a vital member of India's squad during their T20 World Cup win in 2007, besides the 2011 50-over World Cup. He picked seven wickets in as many games in the 2007 T20 WC to finish as India's third-leading wicket-taker, behind RP Singh and Irfan Pathan. He bagged nine wickets in the 2011 WC on home soil.
Stats
Fourth-highest wicket-taker for Team India in Tests
Harbhajan finished his career as India's fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests. He donned the whites for India on 103 occasions and bagged 417 wickets at an average of 32.46. He registered 25 fifers and five ten-wicket hauls under his name in the format. He is only behind Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), and R Ashwin (427).
Numbers
Harbhajan Singh's career in numbers
Harbhajan made his international debut against Australia in 1998 in Bengaluru. He made his ODI debut in the same year against New Zealand. Bhajji finished with 269 ODI scalps at 33.35. He represented India in 28 T20Is, taking 25 scalps at 25.32. Harbhajan claimed 780 FC wickets, besides taking 393 List A scalps, and 235 in T20s.
Details
Harbhajan Singh in IPL
Harbhajan represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League for a decade and won three titles with them. In 2018, he moved to Chennai Super Kings and was an integral part of their title-winning campaign that season. He represented Kolkata Knight Riders in the last edition of IPL. Overall, he played 163 games in the cash-rich league and picked up 150 wickets.