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No one could pick his doosra: Harbhajan on Pakistan off-spinner
Saqlain had an impeccable record in ODIs as well, averaging more than 2 wickets per match for the majority of his career. He also took a hat-trick in Pakistan’s 1999 ICC World Cup campaign, which ended in a defeat in the final to Australia.
India cricket fans will always remember some cricketers from the Pakistani team, who were a constant thorn in Team India’s flesh. One of them was the off-spinner par excellence Saqlain Mushtaq. Saqlain was the bowler who dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in the Chennai Test match of 1998, which eventually led to a heartbreaking loss to the arch-rivals for India.
Saqlain had an impeccable record in ODIs as well, averaging more than 2 wickets per match for the majority of his career. He also took a hat-trick in Pakistan’s 1999 ICC World Cup campaign, which ended in a defeat in the final to Australia.
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Talking about great off-spinners Harbhajan put Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan at the top of the list. He also named the likes of Aussie Nathan Lyon and England’s Graeme Swann. Rohit Sharma asked Harbhajan to give his opinion on Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq and Bhajji was all praise for the man who invented the ‘doosra’.
“Saqi bhai was class, he was a class bowler, a great bowler. No one could pick the doosra he bowled and he was a true match-winner. He would often bowl between the 45th and 50th over and invariably pick a couple of wickets and win the match for his team,” Harbhajan said while lavishing praise on Saqlain.
Talking about Indian off-spinners, Harbhajan said Ashwin is by far the best and there aren’t too many in the line. He named former Mumbai Indians recruit Akshay Wakhare as a promising bowler too.
The duo joked a bit about Kedar Jadhav after one of the fans mentioned his name. Rohit jokingly said that if Jadhav played Test cricket he would retire hurt after playing just half an hour.
