Harbhajan Singhਹਰਭਜਨ ਸਿੰਘ

Early life

Harbhajan Singh was born on 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, Punjab, into a Ramgarhia Sikh family — the only son of Sardar Sardev Singh Plaha, a freedom fighter who owned a ball-bearing and valve factory, and one of six children with five sisters. He was first trained as a batsman by his coach Charanjit Singh Bhullar; after Bhullar's untimely death, Davinder Arora converted him to spin bowling — the decision that made his career.

He made his Test and ODI debuts for India in early 1998 as a teenager. The early years were turbulent: questions over the legality of his bowling action and disciplinary incidents stalled him, and by 2001 his career looked to be drifting.

Career

Then came the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With Anil Kumble injured, captain Sourav Ganguly insisted on Harbhajan's inclusion against Australia — and the off-spinner took 32 wickets in the series, including a hat-trick at Eden Gardens, the first by an Indian in Test cricket. India won the series 2–1, and Harbhajan became a national hero overnight.

He went on to play 103 Tests (417 wickets) and 236 ODIs (269 wickets) for India between 1998 and 2016, the second-highest Test wicket tally by an off-spinner in history after Muttiah Muralitharan. He was part of India's 2007 T20 World Cup-winning side, the 2011 ODI World Cup-winning side, and the joint-winning 2002 Champions Trophy team. Domestically he played for Punjab and, in the IPL, for the Mumbai Indians — whom he also captained — the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Major works

His defining series remain the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and his starring role in the 2011 World Cup campaign. He retired from all forms of cricket in December 2021. Beyond playing, he acted in Tamil films, became a television personality and cricket commentator, and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009.

In 2022 he entered the Rajya Sabha as an Aam Aadmi Party-nominated Member of Parliament, bringing the same combative energy to politics that had marked his bowling — the refusal to back down that teammates called his greatest asset.

After retirement he built a second career in the media — as a cricket commentator, television host and Tamil film actor — and his outspoken punditry made him one of the most recognisable voices in Indian cricket broadcasting. His journey from Jalandhar to the Rajya Sabha, via Eden Gardens and two World Cups, remains one of the great arcs of Indian sport.

Personal life

Harbhajan married actress Geeta Basra on 29 October 2015 in Jalandhar. They have two children — daughter Hinaya, born in 2016, and son Jovan Veer, born in 2021. He holds the rank associated with his service as an officer in the Punjab Police.

Legacy

Harbhajan Singh — 'Bhajji', 'the Turbanator' — was the spinner who ended Australia's dominance and gave India its first Test hat-trick. His 700-plus international wickets place him among the greatest spinners the game has known, and his journey from a Jalandhar factory family to the Rajya Sabha is one of Indian sport's great second acts.