Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Friday.
“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,” Harbhajan said in a tweet.
Harbhajan has played 103 Test matches for India, to go with 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is. He was part of the ICC World T20 triumph in 2007, World Cup win in 2011 and was a key part of one of India’s greatest Test series wins against Australia at the turn of the century.
Why Harbhajan’s performance against Australia in 2001 is the greatest by an Indian in a Test series
In IPL, he most recently was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad. He had played for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the past and finishes with a total of 150 wickets, that puts him fifth on the all-time wicket-takers list.
Harbhajan Singh's bowling stats
Mat | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Test | 103 | 417 | 8/84 | 32.46 | 2.84 | 68.5 | 16 | 25 | 5 |
ODI | 236 | 269 | 5/31 | 33.35 | 4.31 | 46.3 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
T20I | 28 | 25 | 4/12 | 25.32 | 6.20 | 24.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 163 | 150 | 5/18 | 22.77 | 7.07 | 22.77 | 1 | 1 | - |
Harbhajan, who made his India debut during an ODI against New Zealand at Sharjah in 1998, last played for the country in March, 2016 during a T20I against the UAE at Dhaka.
One of the most memorable moments in his international career was when he snapped 32 wickets in three Tests, including the first Test hat-trick by an Indian, against Australia in March, 2001.
The 41-year-old finishes with a total of 711 international wickets, 707 of those coming in India colours.
“In many ways, I had already retired as a cricketer, but hadn’t been able to make a formal announcement,” Harbhajan said in a video message. “I had a commitment to Kolkata Knight Riders, and wanted to spend the last IPL season with them. But during the course of the season, I had made up my mind to retire.”
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