'Those 2 years were the best I played. No stress, no drama': India's World Cup-winning legend makes stunning 'CSK' claim

The former India star made a big claim about his time with Chennai Super Kings, going as far as to call his stint with the IPL franchise the ‘best’ of his career.

Team India has been one of the more successful units in international cricket since the turn of the century. The side was the joint-winner of the 2002 Champions Trophy, and produced an exceptional performance next year to reach the final of the ODI World Cup. The side did face a massive heartbreak in the 2007 edition of the marquee tournament but a young team, under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, won the fans over merely a few months later with the T20 World Cup title. India continued to be a dominant unit in Test cricket all this while, and in 2011, a Dhoni-led Indian team also won the ODI World Cup at home.

CSK in 2018(IPL)

Throughout this time, India had a number of star performers in their squads; the side boasted of a star-studded batting lineup led by Sachin Tendulkar, widely regarded as one of the greatest batters in history. Among bowlers, while Zaheer Khan led the pace attack, it was Harbhajan Singh who took the mantle from Anil Kumble to become India's leading spinner in the side. Harbhajan was part of both of India's triumphs in 2007 and 2011, playing a key role for the team in the tournament wins.

The former off-spinner, however, believes that his “best years” of playing cricket weren't with the Indian jersey; they came quite later in 2018 and 2019, when he represented the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. Harbhajan said playing under Dhoni at CSK was “something different.”

“Unbelievable. Those 2 years probably were the best years that I played cricket. No stress, no drama. You just go out there, don't worry about result. Even if you lose, it's fine. This was something different. It was very enjoyable. Everybody was together. Not just the players, families as well. We used to travel around India with lot of people, so it was great fun,” said Harbhajan during a chat on Star Sports.

Harbhajan lifted the 2018 title with CSK. His last appearance in the Indian Premier League came in 2021 when he represented the Kolkata Knight Riders.