Birth Name : Harbhajan Singh Plaha
Date of birth : 03/07/1980
Place of birth : Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Category : Cricket
Harbhajan Singh Plaha commonly known as 'Harbhajan Singh', is an Indian cricketer and former captain of IPL team Mumbai. A specialist bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner. He was born on 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. Harbhajan was born into a middle class Ramgharia Sikh family. He is the only son of 'Sardar Sardev Singh Plaha'. Harbhajan was trained as a batsman by his first coach Charanjit singh Bhullar. Because of his father death in 2000, Harbhajan became the family head, and as of 2001, had organised marriages for three of his sisters.
Awards
Test cricket
Man of the Series awards
OppositevAustralia in India Test series in 2000–01
Opposite West Indies in India Test series in 2002–03
Opposite South Africa in India Test series in 2007–08
Man of the Match awards
Opposite Australia at Chepauk, Chennai in 2000–01
Opposite Zimbabwe at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi in 2001–02
Opposite West Indies at Chepauk, Chennai in 2002–03
Opposite South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2004–05
Opposite Sri Lanka at Motera, Ahmedabad in 2005–06
Opposite New Zealand at Motera, Ahmedabad in 2010–11
ODI cricket
Man of the match awards
Opposite South Africa at Centurion, Pretoria in 2001–02
Opposite England at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi in 2005–06
OppositevWest Indies Kinrara, Kuala Lumpur in 2006–07
Match performance of Last Seven Matches
Opposite England at St John's Wood, London in 21 July 2011
Opposite West Indies at Bridgetown, Barbados in 28 June 2011
Opposite West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica in 20 June 2011
Opposite West Indies at North Sound, Antigua 11 on Jun 2011
Opposite West Indies at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 8 Jun 2011
Opposite West Indies at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 6 Jun 2011
Opposite West Indies at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 4 Jun 2011
Early career
Harbhajan Singh made his Test and One Day International (ODI) debuts in early 1998. His career was initially affected by investigations into the legality of his bowling action, as well as several disciplinary incidents. 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.
In 1996–97, Harbhajan was promoted to the Punjab Under-19s and he took 15 wickets at 20.20 in three matches, although he managed only two runs with the bat. This included match figures of 8/54 in an innings win over Jammu and Kashmir. Harbhajan Singh made his first-class cricket debut in late 1997 against Services, during the 1997–98 Ranji Trophy season. He took a total of 3/35 in an innings win but was dropped back to the Under-19s the following week. He then took 5/75 and 7/44 in two matches to earn a recall to the senior team. He then took a total of 7/123 in the next two matches for Punjab to earn selection for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
In 2001
Because of Anil Kumble injured before the home series in March 2001 against the visiting Australians, Harbhajan, whose previous best Test figures were only 3/30, was the only capped spinner in the Indian team for the First Test. He had been recalled after captain Sourav Ganguly publicly called for his inclusion in the team. He was to lead the spin attack against an Australian team which had set a world record with 15 consecutive Test victories, and was searching for its first ever series victory on Indian soil since 1969.
Harbhajan was named man of the match and man of the series, having taken 32 wickets at 17.03 for the series, when none of his team-mates managed more than three. The Wisden 100 study conducted by Wisden in 2002 rated all four of Harbhajan's efforts in the Second and Third Tests in the top 100 bowling performances of all time, the most for any bowler. He paid tribute to his father, who had died just six months earlier. His performance led to him usurping Anil Kumble's position as India's first-choice spinner.
Later Career
Harbhajan was omitted from the Indian team in favour of Kumble as the first-choice spinner on the following tour of South Africa, only playing in the later matches when India fielded two spinners. Nevertheless, he continued to do well in the ODIs, taking nine wickets at 20.44 in six matches at an economy rate of 3.53, winning his first man of the match award in the ODI form in an ODI against South Africa in Bloemfontein after taking 3/27 from his ten overs. He scored 62 runs at 15.50, including a rearguard 37 that was not enough to prevent an embarrassing 70-run loss to Kenya. After being omitted for the First Test, which India lost, his disciplinary problems continued when he was one of four Indian players fined and given a suspended one match suspension for dissent and attempting to intimidate the umpire by over-appealing in the Second Test.
He had a mixed tournament at the 2003 Cricket World Cup, taking 11 wickets at 30.45 with an economy rate of 3.92 in ten matches. He was the first-choice spinner and played in all matches but one, being dropped for the victory against arch-rivals Pakistan in the group phase. His counterpart, Kumble, played in only three matches. Harbhajan was steady throughout the tournament, never taking more than two wickets in a match, and never conceding more than 42 runs from his quota of ten overs, except in the two matches against Australia, who went through the tournament without defeat.
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