Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh

India

Full name Harbhajan Singh
Born July 3, 1980, Jullundur (now Jalandhar), Punjab
Current age 26 years 240 days
Major teams India, Punjab, Reebok XI, Surrey
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	57	79	18	986	66	16.16	1451	67.95	0	2	142	16	30	0
ODIs	147	75	21	687	46	12.72	869	79.05	0	0	60	16	41	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	0	0	0	0	-	0	-	0	0	0	0	0	0
First-class	114	151	33	2286	84	19.37			0	6			60	0
List A	188	102	28	958	46	12.94			0	0			60	0
Twenty20	9	3	1	11	6	5.50	12	91.66	0	0			2	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	57	15162	7108	238	8/84	15/217	29.86	2.81	63.70	5	19	4
ODIs	147	7891	5434	170	5/31	5/31	31.96	4.13	46.41	2	2	0
Twenty20 Int.	1	18	22	1	1/22	1/22	22.00	7.33	18.00	0	0	0
First-class	114	27229	12880	472	8/84		27.28	2.83	57.68		30	5
List A	188	9941	6828	223	5/31	5/31	30.61	4.12	44.57	4	2	0
Twenty20	9	156	174	5	2/22	2/22	34.80	6.69	31.20	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	India v Australia at Bangalore - Mar 25-28, 1998
Last Test	West Indies v India at Kingston - Jun 30-Jul 2, 2006
ODI debut	India v New Zealand at Sharjah - Apr 17, 1998
Last ODI	India v Sri Lanka at Visakhapatnam - Feb 17, 2007
Only Twenty20 Int.	South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006
First-class span	1997/98 - 2006/07
List A span	1997/98 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2005 - 2006/07

Profile

Wisden overview
A player of passion, with talent to match, Harbhajan Singh is India's most successful offspin bowler. Bowling with a windmilling, whiplash action, remodelled after he was reported for throwing, he exercises great command over the ball, has the ability to vary his length and pace, and can turn it the other way too. His main wicket-taking ball, however, is the one that climbs wickedly on the unsuspecting batsman from a good length, forcing him to alter his stroke at the last second. In March 2001, it proved too much for the all-conquering Australians, as Harbhajan collected 32 wickets in three Tests, including the first Test hat-trick by an Indian, while none of his team-mates managed more than three. He has never quite managed to reach those heights again, but he remains an irresistible force on home pitches where he can be unplayable once he manages an opening. Purists might mutter about a lack of loop and flight, but he is very much a product of his times where short boundaries and heavy bats afford little latitude to slow bowlers. His overseas record, despite two five-fors against West Indies in India's last tour there in 2006, remains a worry: he averages nearly 40 per wicket outside India, while at home he averages just over 25. He can be occasionally explosive with the bat and has scored nearly 1000 runs. At 26, he remains the prime candidate to carry on India's rich legacy in spin after the the retirement of Anil Kumble.