Focus wicket-to-wicket says Harbhajan Singh
Loaded with talent and filled with passion, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157.
Indian cricket gurus criticise Harbhajan’s lack of flight when he bowls, but all of them recognise his tremendous ability to restrict the opponent’s batting-order, as short boundaries and heavy bats in the shorter format of the game usually prove costly to other slow bowlers. Harbhajan has perfected the art of varying the length and pace of his deliveries, as his ability to turn the ball the other way, has caught many of the world’s top batsmen out.
Harbhajan was born on July 3, 1980 in Jalandhar, India. The 30-year-old has played 93 Test matches, taking 393 wickets with an average of 31.85. He started his Test career in 1998 against Australia at Bangalore. Harbhajan’s best bowling figure is 8 wickets for 84 runs. He has featured with 5 wicket hauls 25 times and 10 wickets, 5 times. Harbhajan has scored 2008 runs with the highest score of 115 runs in 93 matches.
In One Day International cricket, Harbhajan has 246 wickets in 217 matches. He opened his account in ODI cricket against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 at Sharjah in 1998. Harbhajan’s best bowling figure is 2 from 31 with an average of 33.10. In the ODI format of the game, he has featured with a 5 wicket haul, three times. He has scored 1125 runs with an average of 13.23 in 217 matches, with a highest score of 49.
In the Twenty20 format of the game, Harbhajan has taken 16 wickets in 22 matches with a best bowling figure of 3 from 30. His average in the T20 format is 32.25. Harbhajan has also performed as an all-rounder, scoring 84 runs in 22 matches with his highest score of 21 with an average of 12.
His First-class record is also very impressive, as in 157 matches, he has taken 670 wickets with an average of 28.41 with his best bowling figure of 8 for 84. He has scored 3416 runs with an average of 19.86. In List A cricket, he has played 267 matches and has 314 wickets with his best bowling figure of 5 for 31. In domestic T20, he has played 70 matches with 61 wickets.
Harbhajan or ‘Bhajji’, as many call him by this nick-name, was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri in 2009. He was rewarded as Man of the Match in a Test series 6 times, along with the Man of the Series, 3 times. In ODI matches, he has won the Man of the Match award 3 times against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in 2006-7.
Against his personal rivals the Australians, Harbhajan’s career has seen many ups and downs. He is the only player to restrict http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-Symonds-c1045 in 2008 and when he was reprimanded for slapping his team-mate SreeSanth during the Indian Premier League.
After the retirement of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anil-Kumble-c44737 from the Indian team, Harbhajan has increased his performance and consistently led from the front. He has become a specialist at restricting batsmen and taking wickets. His contribution with not only the ball, but with the bat as well, has been very impressive.
Harbhajan has said, "If you are bowling a wicket-to-wicket line, you are ruling out the cross-batted shot as an option, and if the batsman hits, good luck. If he misses it, he will be out. And if he is trying to work around the ball, I can get a midwicket and try and force a catch."
Harbhajan’s job for the Indian team is to take as many wickets as he can. As long as he continues to do so, his place in the team and in cricketing history will be admired for many years to come.
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