Harbhajan Singh Biography of Indian Cricketer

This is about harbhajan singh biography
Full name    Harbhajan Singh Plaha

Born     3 July 1980 (age 31)

Jalandhar, Punjab, India

Nickname     bhajji, The Turbanator (English language media)

Height     5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)

Batting style     Right-hand

Bowling style     Right-arm off break

Role     Bowler

International information

National side     India

Test debut (cap 215)     25 March 1998 v Australia

Last Test     21 July 2011 v England

ODI debut (cap 113)     17 April 1998 v New Zealand

Last ODI     11 June 2011 v West Indies

ODI shirt no.     3

Domestic team information

Years     Team

1997–present     Punjab

2005     Surrey

2008–present     Mumbai Indians

Career statistics

Competition     Test     ODIs     FC     List A

Matches     97     229     161     279

Runs scored     2,118     1,190     3,526     1,532

Batting average     18.57     13.22     19.80     13.67

100s/50s     2/9     0/0     2/13     0/0

Top score     115     49     115     49

Balls bowled     27,569     12,059     41,508     14,551

Wickets     405     259     682     327

Bowling average     32.13     33.40     28.64     31.69

5 wickets in innings     25     3     39     3

10 wickets in match     5     0     7     0

Best bowling     8/84     5/31     8/84     5/31

Catches/stumpings     42/–     69/–     75/–     88/–

 full name Harbhajan Singh Plaha About this sound pronunciation (help·info) (Punjabi, born: 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India) in a Ramgarhia Sikh family is an Indian cricketer. A specialist bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

Harbhajan made his Test and One Day International (ODI) debuts in early 1998. His career was initially beset by investigations into the legality of his bowling action and disciplinary incidents that raised the ire of cricket authorities. However in 2001, with leading leg spinner Anil Kumble injured, Harbhajan's career was resuscitated after Indian captain Sourav Ganguly called for his inclusion in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy team. In that series victory over Australia, Harbhajan established himself as the team's leading spinner by taking 32 wickets, becoming the first Indian bowler to take a hat trick in Test cricket.

A finger injury in mid 2003 sidelined him for much of the following year, allowing Kumble to regain his position as the first choice spinner. Harbhajan reclaimed a regular position in the team upon his return in late 2004, but often found himself watching from the sidelines in Test matches outside the Indian subcontinent with typically only one spinner, Kumble, being used. Throughout 2006 and into early 2007, Harbhajan's accumulation of wickets fell and his bowling average increased, and he was increasingly criticised for bowling defensively with less loop. Following India's first-round elimination from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Harbhajan was replaced by other spinners in the national squad for both formats. He regained a regular position in the team in late 2007, but became the subject of more controversy. In early 2008, he was given a ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for racially vilifying Andrew Symonds. The ban was revoked upon appeal, but in April, Harbhajan was banned from the 2008 Indian Premier League and suspended from the ODI team by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for slapping Sreesanth after a match.

He was conferred the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009.