On December 24, India’s veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh bid adieu to all forms of cricket, putting an end to a top-level career that started way back in 1998.
Harbhajan confirmed the news on social media with a message to his fans, including a youtube clip where he informed that he was thinking of calling it quits for a while.
Harbhajan said “in many ways, I had already retired” but delayed the announcement because of his commitments with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. But with the franchise opting not to retain the off-spinner’s services for next season, he has decided to close the most important chapter of his life.
“There comes a time in your life when you must take some tough decisions and move ahead.
I have been meaning to make this announcement for the last few years, but I was waiting for the right moment to share it with all of you: today, I am retiring from all formats of cricket.
In many ways, I had already retired as a cricketer, but hadn’t been able to make a formal announcement,”
he said.
Harbhajan recognised that he hadn’t been an active cricketer for a while and stated that he had thought through the retirement call during the 2021 edition of the Premier League where he played only a handful of games for the Riders.
As far as his India career is concerned, the cricketer last turned up for India in 2016 in an Asia Cup league stage encounter against the UAE in Dhaka. The 41-year-old slipped below the pecking order after the 2011 World Cup due to a prolonged dip in returns and injuries. He made comebacks in 2012 and 2015 but could never really cement his place back.
Things were different in his prime, however, when Harbhajan was an integral part of India’s Test, ODI and T20I sides. Fondly called the ‘turbanator’, he played overall 103 Tests with 417 wickets, 236 ODIs with 269 scalps, 28 T20Is with 25 wickets.
He was part of India’s No.1 ranked Test side in 2009-11, 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team and also 2011 ODI World Cup-winning side. In the IPL, Harbhajan is inarguably one of the league’s greats, with an economy rate of just 7.07 over 163 matches with 150 wickets.
