Harbhajan Singh announces retirement from competitive cricket

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has announced retirement from all forms of cricket. He took to his Twitter timeline and announced his move to end the 23-year-long career where he emerged as a veteran of more than 100 games and 400 wickets in the longest format.

There have been media reports in the last few months suggesting that he was to call time on his career and take up the mentoring role for a side in the Indian Premier League.

Harbhajan, who was fondly called “Bhajji” and “Turbanator” by his teammate was an instrumental factor in the rise of India in all forms of the game.

He had made his Test debut in 1998 against Australia and burst onto the scene with his off-spin and the ability to extract bounce against the Steve Waugh-led Australian side. 

He made his ODI debut in the same year and went on to play 236 games in Indian colours and took 269 wickets.

He made his debut in the shortest version of the game in the year 2006 and played a crucial part in India’s dream run and championship in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007.

He was also a huge player in the Indian Premier League and played a massive role in the unprecedented rise of the Mumbai Indians.

He last played for India in the year 2016.

 

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