Harbhajan faced many challenges but always came out fighting, says Rahul Dravid
Dec 24, 2021
Centurion [South Africa], December 24 : Team India head coach Rahul Dravid extended his good wishes to spinner Harbhajan Singh as the latter has announced his retirement from all the formats of crickets on Friday.
The 41-year-old spinner has played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is for Men in Blue. He scalped 294 wickets in limited-overs cricket.
"A big congratulations to Bhajji on his absolutely phenomenal career. Remember seeing him as a young 18-year-old in the nets in Mohali. Just looking at him, you would know that you were looking at a really good talent but what he has really achieved is absolutely phenomenal," said Rahul Dravid in a video posted on BCCI TV.
"His career had its share of ups and downs and he faced many challenges but he always came out fighting and smiling. A great competitor, a great team man and someone you always want to go and battle with. A great performer for India to take over 400 wickets. Pleasure and privileged to have the opportunity to play with him. The highlight of Bhajji's career would be the Australia series where he took 32 wickets and just to see the way he came back, as he was dropped from the team and the way he performed in the absence of Anil Kumble is phenomenal. All the best to him for life," he added.
Meanwhile, India Test skipper Virat Kohli also congratulated the spinner and gave him good best wishes for his life ahead.
"Bhajji Paa, big congratulations for a wonderful career. 711 international wickets is no mean feat and I think you can be very proud of that achievement. It's a blessing to represent your country but being able to perform for that long with so many wickets, it's a completely different thing. I hope you are blessed with happiness and peace and spend a lot of time with family," said Virat Kohli.
Harbhajan played his last red-ball match against Sri Lanka in 2015 while his last ODI was against South Africa in the same year. His last game for India was a T20I against UAE in the 2016 Asia Cup. Since then, he was not picked for the Indian side.
Harbhajan retires after scalping 417 wickets in 103 Tests at an average of 32.46. The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup winner is also the first Indian to scalp a Test hat-trick.
Overall, Jalandhar-born cricketer has played 367 international games and claimed 711 international wickets and scored 3,569 international runs.
