Social media on Friday was flooded with tributes and wishes for veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who bid adieu to all forms of cricket through a heartwarming note. Widely regarded as one of the finest spinners of the sport, the 41-year-old Harbhajan drew curtains on a glorious career where he recorded 711 international wickets to his name
Harbhajan registered 417 wickets in 103 Tests, 269 wickets in 236 ODIs, and 25 scalps in 28 T20Is in his illustrious career with India. The most remarkable feat of Harbhajan's stretch in Indian jersey was perhaps the Test hat-trick against Australia. He also took the cricket world by storm by taking 32 wickets in three Tests in March 2001.
Harbhajan took to Twitter to announce his move, which was followed by a video message where he talked about the "tough" decision and reminisced about his stint with India.
"In my mind, I retired earlier but I am making the announcement today. My journey from the streets of Jalandhar to become the Turnabator for Team India has been a beautiful one. There is no bigger motivation for me in life than stepping out on the field, wearing the India jersey.
Also Read: Harbhajan Singh announces retirement from all forms of cricket
There comes a time in life where we have to take a tough decision, you have to move forward in life. I was waiting for the last few years to make this announcement public -- I am retiring from all forms of cricket," said Harbhajan on his YouTube channel wearing an India blazer.
Minutes after Harbhajan called it a day, pacer S Sreesanth was among the players who extended wishes to the 'Turbanator'. Sreesanth hailed Bhajji as "one of the best ever" in international cricket, saying that it was a huge honour for him to share the dressing room with the seasoned tweaker.
{{/usCountry}}Minutes after Harbhajan called it a day, pacer S Sreesanth was among the players who extended wishes to the 'Turbanator'. Sreesanth hailed Bhajji as "one of the best ever" in international cricket, saying that it was a huge honour for him to share the dressing room with the seasoned tweaker.
{{/usCountry}}"@harbhajan_singh Ur gonna be the one of the best ever played cricket not just for india but in world of cricket..it’s a huge honour to know u and to have played with you b bhajjipa ….will always cherish the lovely hugs( lucky for me ) before my spells ) lots of love and respect," wrore Sreesanth on Twitter.
Notably, Harbhajan and Sreesanth were embroiled in a controversy during the inaugural IPL edition when the former was spotted crying on the field with his teammates trying to console him. It was found out that Harbhajan had allegedly slapped the pacer after the IPL game.
The scuffle even led to Harbhajan being banned from the remainder of the tournament and Shaun Pollock taking over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians. But with the passage of time, the equation got better between the two cricketers, who played together during India's title-winning campaigns in 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.