Harbhajan Singh Bowled Like A Champion In The Historic Australia Series – Sourav Ganguly
Dec 29, 2019 at 9:32 PM
The 2001 home series against Australia was a turning point in Indian cricket history under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly. The game was hit by match-fixing allegations and it needed some sort of inspiration to get back on track. India went on loss the first Test match against Australia and they were on the verge of losing the series when they were asked to follow-on in the Kolkata Test.
However, the gargantuan alliance between VVS Laxman who scored 281 and Rahul Dravid who scored 180 runs helped India in turning the tides in their favor. Laxman and Dravid’s insane efforts could have also gone in vain had Harbhajan Singh not turned up in the series. The off-spinner scalped a hat-trick in the second Test.
Harbhajan was ruthless in the series.
In fact, India did not have the services of their experienced spinner, Anil Kumble, in the series. Thus, Bhajji had huge shoes to fill in the series against Australia.
“They say it’s love at first sight. And when I saw Harbhajan bowl at Eden, picking up 14 wickets (in actual fact 13 wickets) it was love at first sight for a cricketer who I believed would go on to change things for Indian cricket,” stated Ganguly in India Today Inspiration.
“Anil Kumble not playing in India is a huge, huge difference to any team. We worked hard before the Test series. John Wright was very important to us. And Harbhajan Singh bowled like a champion,” added the former skipper.
Harbhajan Singh took 13 wickets in the Kolkata Test match (seven in the first innings whereas six in the second) and breathed down the neck of the Australian batsmen. The off-spinner was at his best in the series and scalped 32 wickets in the three-match series. India won the second Test by 171 runs and then won the third Test at Chennai by two wickets to claim the series 2-1.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh has 417 Test scalps in the 103 Test matches he has played. The off-spinner from Punjab was able to blossom under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.