Opinion

I Bowled As If There Was No Tomorrow: Harbhajan Singh

‘I think the 2001 win against Australia was as inspiring as the 1983 World Cup win. It fired the imagination of youngsters,’ says Harbhajan Singh

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I Bowled As If There Was No Tomorrow: Harbhajan Singh
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Cometh the hour, cometh the man. With his future on the line, Harbhajan Singh turned his career around after he was recalled to the national side at the behest of skipper Sourav Ganguly for the series against Australia. Bhajji, then a raw 20-year-old off-spinner, finished with 32 wickets in the three-Test series to emerge Man of the Series. Harbhajan took 13 wickets in the second Test in Calcutta, including the first hat trick by an Indian in Tests. Excerpts from an interview with Outlook’s Soumitra Bose.

What are your memories of that win at Eden Gardens?

It all seems fresh and vivid like yesterday. I was a little nervous going into the ground. We were down 1-0; Dada lost the toss again. We badly wanted to bowl in the fourth innings and how dramatically things changed in that game! It was a great game of cricket. I have never been part of a better Test match than that. As an individual, it gave me so much confidence that I thought that I finally belonged to int­ernational cricket and could survive there.

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That hattrick brought India back in the game on Day 1.

Mathew Hayden was really hammering us but after tea, my hattrick suddenly changed things. It was my first five-wicket haul but I did not celebrate much as Steve Waugh was still batting and we had to return the next day. We wanted to restrict the Aussies to under 350.

Ganguly had once said during a book launch that Laxman and you saved his captaincy.

I don’t know if I saved Dada’s captaincy, but I certainly saved my career. Many of us were trying to save our places in the team. I took 28 wickets in four domestic matches and Anil Kumble was unavailable due to injury. That opened the door for me.

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You must have been ext­remely motivated.…

I played as if there was no tomorrow has been my style ever since. My car­eer was at stake; those 13 wickets surely helped the team. After the Calcutta match, we started believing that we could beat Australia.

Where do you put the Eden win in India’s cricket history?

When Kapil Dev’s team won the 1983 World Cup, it inspi­r­ed many youngsters like me. I think the 2001 win against Australia was equally inspirational and fired the imagination of youngsters wanting to play for Team India. We can see how the present generation has taken the legacy forward and I am sure the 2001 ser­ies win must have played some part.

What was the talk in the dressing room after India were all out for 171 and asked to follow on?

The dressing room was very quiet. We were not happy with our performance but were determined that things can be salvaged. Rahul and Laxman did an unbelievable job. I could never imagine that two batsmen can bat an entire day against an attack that had McGrath and Warne.

How was it bowling to the in-form Australian batsmen?

I was confident about my skills. Yes, there was Steve Waugh, a role model of mine, but when competing against him, I only thought about how to get him out. I had a simple job—to bowl to the field set by the captain. Glad I did that.

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How did you prepare for the Australia series?

I worked very hard. We had a long camp in Chennai before the series and we did plenty of spot bowling. A lot of importance was given on bowling to a particular batsman. All credit to Dada and coach John Wright for spending a lot of time on research and development.

How important was Sachin’s contribution?

You can never take him away from a game. If he is not scoring runs, he will get wickets. On Day 5, post tea, we were attacking the Australians from my end. Nothing was happening from the other. So Sachin opened the window for us with three wickets. We tend to forget such contributions but Sachin’s spell contributed as much to the final result as my seven-wicket (first innings) haul. He got the big boys – Hayden and Gilchrist and Warne were no rabbits with the bat. Getting Gilchrist was like winning match-point.

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How did the Eden Gardens pitch play out?

If the pitch had played a role, the game would not have finished on Day 5. The Eden wicket was true and both teams scored a lot of runs. It surely was not a three-day wicket. The pitch was absolutely fine till the end.

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