Former Australian captain Steve Waugh heaped up praise for Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and said that if it wasn’t for him, Australia would have gone on to win the series in 2001 in India.
Before arriving in India for the Border-Gavaskar trophy in 2001, Australia was looking unstoppable and was on the back of 15 consecutive wins in Test-matches. They then made it 16 Test wins in a row, after winning the first Test in Mumbai.
They were well on their way to making it 17 wins in a row when Steve Waugh asked India to follow-on in the second Test in Kolkata, but then VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid happened with the bat and Harbhajan Singh spoiled the party with the ball.
Harbhajan Singh is arguably considered to be one of India’s best spinners, with 417 Test wickets to his name, the former came into the limelight with his terrific performance against Australia in the historic 2001 home series where he scalped 32 wickets in 3 Test matches and was named Man of the Series, along with Australia's Matthew Hayden.
Steve Waugh, who led Australia on that tour, said that if it wasn’t for Harbhajan Singh Australia would have gone on to win the series. Harbhajan also became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Tests at Eden Gardens.
“He won the series for India in 2001. 32 wickets in 3 Tests. We just couldn’t counteract his bounce. He got this amazing bounce off the length. Every spell he bowled against, he dominated us,” Steve Waugh told cricket.com.au.
Praising the veteran Indian off-spinner, Steve Waugh said no one except Mathew Hayden played him well as the off-spinner was very consistent.
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“[He had an] Incredible strike rate, bowled a lot of overs, and was consistent. Hayden probably took him on and did well, but the rest of us really couldn’t find a way to get on top of him. Without him, we would have won the series. A very influential figure, particularly against us,” Steve Waugh said.
Steve Waugh revealed the success behind Harbhajan’s and said that the reason behind Harbhajan’s success was that he was not a traditional off-spinner.
“He wasn’t a traditional off-spinner. He got a bit overspin and bounce. It wasn’t always the sharp turn, but the subtle variations and bounce. (We) got caught bat-pad pretty regularly off him,” he said.
Steve Waugh, 55, said he found Harbhajan a 'bit prickly' because of his Aussie-like aggression and take no prisoners attitude.
“He played in the same vein, the same spirit, and the same method as we did. That’s probably why we found him a bit prickly because it was like playing against ourselves in the opposition. He played cricket the Aussie way. He was in your face, a bit of talk, aggressive, positive and he backed himself,” said Steve Waugh.
( Cricket.com.au Inputs)
