NEW DELHI: Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who earned the sobriquet Turbanator in 2001 after a gut-wrenching performance in one of the most keenly fought India-Australia Test series where he scalped 32 wickets, has announced retirement from all forms of cricket.
He played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is for India and picked up 417, 269 and 25 wickets respectively. He started his career on March 25 1996 in the test match against Australia in Bengaluru.
A month after his test debut, he made his ODI debut against New Zealand. In 2006, Harbhajan got a chance to play in T20I, and he made his T20I debut against South Africa.
Harbhajan was part of the winning India squad in 2007 T20 World cup and 2011 world cup. He has retired after a glorious 23-year long international career.
The Jalandhar-born cricketer made the announcement on twitter “All good things come to an end and today as I bid adieu to the game that has given me everything in life, I would like to thank everyone who made this 23-year-long journey beautiful and memorable. My heartfelt thank you. Grateful,”
All good things come to an end and today as I bid adieu to the game that has given me everything in life, I would like to thank everyone who made this 23-year-long journey beautiful and memorable.
My heartfelt thank you 🙏 Grateful .https://t.co/iD6WHU46MU— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 24, 2021
He was last among the cricketers of 2000s – Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, who made debut in ODIs and Tests almost together before each one of them retired during the last five years.
Singh, who got married in his hometown Jalandhar to Geeta Basra in 2016, is a father of two daughters. Singh, also frequently known as Bhajji, also shared the youtube video link in his tweet, this official retirement video published through his own youtube channel.
Harbhajan retires as India’s fourth highest wicket-taker in Tests after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Ravichandran Ashwin (427).
Harbhajan emerged as one of the key players in IPL for Mumbai Indians. Harbhajan Singh was picked by Mumbai Indians in the inaugural season of IPL and remained with the franchise till 2017, he picked up as many as 24 wickets in the 2013 season and played a vital role in Mumbai’s maiden title-winning season.