#Rewind360 - Harbhajan Singh spins magic in Kolkata

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  • The Kolkata Test: A turnaround of epic proportions

    It speaks to the gravity and magnitude of the Indian team’s performance that there is no doubt which encounter you’re referring to when discussing ‘The Kolkata Test’. India have played out countless encounters in the City of Joy, yet there is no doubt as to which is enshrined in most fans’ consciousness above all others.

    It has practically become a byword for the fighting spirit, the sublime cricket and somewhat surreal sense of the improbable that characterised India under Sourav Ganguly’s leadership in the early 2000s. It was the time India took on Steve Waugh’s world champions at Eden Gardens and affected one of the most staggering comebacks in cricketing history.

    After being asked to follow-on, the home side’s prospects seemed bleak, but by the end of it all they were winners by 171 runs. VVS Laxman took home the man-of-the-match award for his 281, but the Kolkata Test was also a true coming-of-age for the game’s other big hero.

    A SPINNING PRODIGY?

    It may seem impossible now to think there was ever doubt over Harbhajan’s inclusion in the side, but there was. Harbhajan was 20 at the time, and with no more than nine Tests under his belt and an average of over 38. He was often competing with leg-spinner Anil Kumble and was not an automatic choice over one of the side’s senior players. As luck would have it, Kumble was injured and missed the series.

    It is difficult to think of an instance of a young player grabbing his chance so emphatically. But it was an inauspicious star for Harbhajan and India. Australia took just three days to soundly defeat India by ten wickets first up, in a fitting tribute by the tourists to the memory of Don Bradman, who died the night before proceedings began in Mumbai.

    Harbhajan actually did not perform too badly in that game. He was a little expensive (an economy of 4.4), but also collected four wickets in the match. The best, however, was yet to come.

    HAT-TRICK HERO

    In the next Test at Kolkata, he would take a full 13 wickets. It was the start of a great career and the first heroic display in a list now as long as your arm.

    The carnage began on day one. Australia amassed 445 in their first innings after winning the toss and electing to bat. The stand out displays were from Waugh (110) and Matthew Hayden (97), but they were remarkably outshone by the young man from Jalandhar.

    The centurion and the almost-centurion were two of seven victims Harbhajan claimed in the first innings. Also among the seven scalps were three in succession – Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne – the first ever hat-trick by an Indian in Test cricket. It was an historic moment, and a performance remarkable not just for its quality, but also for the way it completely altered the mood of the occasion.

    In the space of three balls, Harbhajan had roused the 65,000 strong crowd to their feet and restored morale in the Indian dressing room. There was no better reminder of sport’s capacity to amaze and enthral, turning emotions from distraught to delight in a matter of minutes.

    Following on, India were staring down the barrel at 232-4, when Laxman and Rahul Dravid seized the game by the scruff of the neck and turned it around in dramatic fashion. Their stand was unbroken for the entirety of the fourth day and, suddenly, Australia were on the back foot.

    Set a target of 384 on the final day, the tourists set about saving a game they should have been winning. But Harbhajan, with ball in hand and a steely glare in his eyes, had other ideas.

    Harbhajan took 6/73 in the second innings, removing Ponting for a duck and thus adding an intriguing subplot to subsequent India-Australia encounters. The visitors were never really in it against a fired-up Indian side on a high from the Laxman-Dravid stand the previous day. After 68.3 overs on the fifth day, Australia had lost a Test match for the first time in 18 matches.

    They were dismissed for 212. and rather fittingly, Harbhajan took the final wicket of the game, trapping Glenn McGrath in front to cap what had been a staggering performance. India had levelled the series and the spinner from Punjab had breathed optimism back into his side.

    EPILOGUE

    It seems strangely overlooked at times that Harbhajan actually managed to surpass his tally in the Kolkata Test in the next match in Chennai. He took 15 wickets at Chepauk, sending the Australians crashing and burning once again to leave India with a modest 155 to chase for victory and claim the series.

    It did not go smoothly. They were 135-7, and in real danger of coming up short. Harbhajan walked to the crease and the hero of the series promptly dragged his side over the line with just two wickets remaining. India finished 2-1 series victors, the first team in two years to inflict defeat on one of the greatest sides the game has ever seen.

    For Harbhajan personally, the man-of-the-series award was the icing on the cake. He finished with 32 wickets from the three Tests – a record for the most wickets by a spinner in a series consisting of three games.

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