When roused by anger—and beer—a partisan horde can only hurl personal insults. And the vulgar railing, even the local media reported reluctantly, bordered on the racist, as Harbhajan was jeered at about the symbols of his religion. Then, a vicious Matthew Hayden called him an "obnoxious little weed"—a remark that drew Cricket Australia's censure. The CA in turn was castigated by the media here for penalising a player for his "honesty". The hawkish elements in the media were itching to hang Bhajji.
True, Harbhajan is not particularly charming on the field, but one attribute even Aussies would admire in him is mental toughness—the very Australian ability of getting under the opposition's skin. His impact with the ball before the finals was not massive—he picked up just eight wickets from 10 games in all—but he managed to chafe on the Aussie psyche to such a degree that they were reduced to a ragged, whining bunch.
Harbhajan was audacious, willing to fight fire with fire. After getting Hayden at Sydney, he shadow-boxed with Yuvraj, mocking Hayden for hinting in a radio interview that he'd like to get into a boxing ring with Ishant Sharma. No wonder many Aussies thought Bhajji was the mascot of the young team that loves to play its cricket hard.
The Indians, though, believe he was not the instigator of hostilities. They say he only finished what the Australians started; that he was specifically targeted because he is excitable and, more significantly, a threat on the field. "Ponting had struggled to play him in the Tests, and they knew he would be a threat in the ODIs," says a senior Indian player. "And while they themselves abuse opposition players, they can't take it back!"
Skipper M.S. Dhoni lauds Bhajji's resilience. "The more problems they created for him, the more determined he was to perform," Dhoni told Outlook. "He's aggressive, and he fights to the end, even if the odds are against him. From outside the field, he sometimes may look rash, but you have to respect individuals, unless they cross the barrier."
Harbhajan left Australia with one final barb at his tormentors. Pictures of him flexing his muscles were carried in newspapers here, and he boasted that he was "mentally too tough for the Australians". The masters of mental disintegration, having had their minds picked at and deconstructed in their own backyards, are grudgingly agreeing.
