Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who is celebrating his 37th birthday, has without doubt been one of India’s greatest-ever bowlers.
He has 417 Test and 269 ODI wickets to his name, and was memorably part of the Indian team that won the World T20 in 2007 and then the World Cup in 2011 on home soil.
Here, we have a look at some statistical highlights from Harbhajan’s career.
– In 2001, he became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket, achieving this feat against Australia in the historic Kolkata Test.
– He is the second-highest wicket-taker for India in international cricket (707) behind Anil Kumble (956), and in total, claimed 711 wickets at the international level (including four for Asia XI in 2007).
– The off-spinner is number three in the wicket-taking charts in Test cricket for India, behind Kumble (619) and Kapil Dev (434).
– As far as IPL action goes – again, Harbhajan is placed at three in the all-time wicket stakes with 127. Only Lasith Malinga (154) and Amit Mishra (134) lie ahead of him.
– He is also the fifth highest wicket-taker for India in one-day international cricket with 265 scalps to his name.
Harbhajan last played international cricket during the 2016 Asia T20 Cup and hasn’t been part of India’s Test and ODI teams since 2015.
At the age of 37, a comeback to the Indian team looks unlikely now but you can never count Harbhajan out.