Suresh Raina Names An Indian Player Whom Australia Feared The Most

Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan recently got involved in an Instagram Live session where the duo chatted up a storm on a variety of things related to cricket. During the discussion, the duo also talked about the impact of Harbhajan Singh on the Australia team during his playing days. Suresh Raina even went on to an extent to naming Harbhajan as an Indian player whom Australia feared the most.

Harbhajan Singh is the most successful off-spinner that India has ever produced. The ‘turbanator’ may not have played cricket for the national side since 2016 but he still remains the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket among active Indian cricketers. The off-spinner is the third-highest wicket-taker- 417 wickets in 103 Tests- in the longest format of the game in the history of Indian cricket.

Harbhajan was a fighter. The bigger the challenge and the more powerful the opposition, the more he thrived and performed. And, one can see that by looking at his numbers against the best team of his generation: Australia. Harbhajan rose to fame courtesy his performance against Australia during that historic 2001 Test series where he claimed 32 wickets [next highest wicket-taker were Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan with 3 apiece] in three matches at an average of 17.

That series kickstarted a love-hate relationship between Bhajji and Australia for the next 10 years as the turbanator, through his bowling skills and sometimes due to his antics, consistently got under the skin of the then World champions.

“Bhajju paa was one of the legends of the game, name me a better offspinner than him in world cricket, communication should’ve been better with him too. He’s a legend, played 100 test matches,” said Irfan Pathan.

“He’s (Harbhajan) a fighter, won us matches in Australia. Australians always used to say stay away from Harbhajan Singh,” Suresh Raina added

“They used to hold their ears upon hearing Harbhajan Singh’s name,” quipped Irfan.

Also Read: Suresh Raina Explains The Difference In The Approaches Of Virat Kohli And Sachin Tendulkar

Irfan Pathan recounts the 2008 Monkeygate scandal between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds during a chat with Suresh Raina

Harbhajan Singh got involved in a raging controversy during the 2007-98 Australia tour where he was accused of hiring racial slurs against Andrew Symonds. Irfan went on to reminisce about the incident,, saying that Harbhajan used to tell him that the way the media was following him, he felt like Michael Jackson.

“Harbhajan used to tell me that I’m not Harbhajan Singh, I feel like Michael Jackson. In the 2008 series media used to follow him everywhere. From ground to the hotel to the mall. He wasn’t even spared in the toilets of the mall,” Irfan Pathan reminisced.

Harbhajan Singh played a total of 18 Test matches against Australia during his career in which he claimed a total of 95 wickets, including that famous hat-trick in 2001, at an average of 29.95.

Also Read: Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan Urge BCCI To Allow Indian Players Play In Overseas Leagues