Harbhajan Singh over the years: The chequered career in pictures

He doesn’t flight the ball like Prasanna did or turn it a mile as Muralitharan was able to, but Harbhajan Singh Plaha knows his trade inside out, one that has made him India’s most successful off-spinner of all time. His feistiness formed an integral chunk of the Indian team of the 2000s, one that shaped the Men in Blue into a formidable team after Australia’s domination in world cricket receded. People speak highly of Anil Kumble, but Bhajji was the Robin to Kumble’s Batman, one who could sadly never completely become the central character once his esteemed senior departed.

We revisit Harbhajan Singh’s chequered career through images:

Harbhajan representing India in the 16^th Commonwealth Games in 1998

He made his debut against Australia (a team he would love to hate over the years) in 1998, at the tender age of 17. The loopy action, that would be modified later, was more side on, but he celebrated the wicket of Greg Blewett, his first international victim, the same way he would now, running around in gay abandon, a big smile on his face.
 
He almost quit cricket in 2000, with chances of playing for India waning day by day. His father had died, he had a family to support, and the Indian selectors had seemed to have moved on to the likes of Murali Kartik and Sarandeep Singh.
 
This was when Sourav Ganguly intervened and publicly campaigned for his recall to the Indian team.