After spending a few years in the wilderness, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has, all of a sudden, shot back into the international limelight, thanks to his comeback into the Indian side. His selection, first for the Test in Bangladesh, and now for the shorter formats in Zimbabwe has left many baffled. After all, Harbhajan hasn't done anything great in either domestic cricket or the IPL to be called back all of a decent. Yes, he has had a reasonably decent time with Mumbai Indians, but it can't be termed spectacular. Now that he has got a chance though, Harbhajan can prove his worth all over again.
Harbhajan's comeback is the latest in what has been a topsy-turvy ride for the cricketer from Punjab. He first came on to the scene as a 17-year-old in 1998, picked out of almost obscurity to represent India. He had a poor Test, and for the next few years disappeared back into oblivion. His action was under the scanner, as his bowling style was found to be suspect much before the days of bio-mechanical analysis. Question marks were also raised about his attitude as he was asked to leave the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as the famous story goes. The death of his father made things worse, and he was on the verge of giving up cricket.
The tide finally turned for the Sardar in 2001. One man's pain, can be often be another person's gain. No matter how harsh it may sound, the fact of the matter is that it is a painful truth as well. Anil Kumble's injury prior to the 2001 series against Australia at home, meant India had to fall back upon the services of Harbhajan. He claimed four wickets in the losing Test at Mumbai, but was easily taken apart. It was in the next Test at Eden Gardens that Harbhajan truly proved his mettle. He got a hat-trick and many wickets to sink Australia. His performance was even better at Chennai, and he even hit the runs that won India the series.
Over the next couple of years, Harbhajan was extremely successful, and there were many matches in which Harbhajan was preferred over Kumble when India wanted to play only one spinner. In fact, during the 2003 World Cup South Africa, Kumble was mostly occupying the bench. However, it was in combination with Kumble that the 'turbanator' was most successful. With Kumble building up pressure from one end, Harbhajan was often rewarded from the other. As a pair, they complemented each other perfectly, and won many matches for India both and home and abroad.
It wasn't surprising that the retirement of Kumble coincided with the decline of Harbhajan. By now, the off-spinner had also lost a lot of his zing. In the few matches he played after Kumble's retirement, he was rather listless. The emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin and MS Dhoni's preference for his Chennai Super Kings mate made matters worse for Harbhajan. And, while he was scoring Test hundreds, the wickets weren't coming. It has needed a rest for Ashwin for Harbhajan to come back into the ODI fold after four years. Life has come a full circle for Harbhajan. Can be turn back the clock though?
--By A Cricket Analyst
