It was the game that changed my career: Harbhajan looks back on 2001 Eden Test
India won after following on, against an Australia packed with superstars. “It gave me self-belief. If I could take five wickets, twice, that too against this team, it meant I could play at this level,” Singh says.
For the Indian cricket fan, there is no Test match quite like the India vs Australia Test at the Eden in 2001. In a contest packed with superstars was a 20-year-old sardar with a rebellious streak, aiming only to survive. Harbhajan Singh, a rookie off-spinner from Jalandhar, wasn’t even sure at that point if cricket would be his career. He was not an obvious selection for the series. It was the backing of captain Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright that got him into the squad.
What unfolded at the Eden is the stuff legends are made of. On the opening day, Singh claimed the first hat-trick by an Indian bowler in Test cricket. On the second day, he had his first five-wicket haul. On the final day he bowled India to a historic victory with a match haul of 13 wickets. His match figures: 13/196
For Singh, it was a career- and life-altering innings. It’s remained his favourite performance; he says he has bowled better in other games without the same success. “It had to happen for me in that game. God chooses the moment,” Singh says. Excerpts from an interview:
What do you think of when you think of the 2001 Eden Test?
I think about it as a game that changed my career, changed the vision of Indian cricket, (taught us, we) can win games from nowhere. Even when nothing is going in your favour, you hang in there and keep fighting and you can get unbelievable results. It gave us direction as a team, (showed us that) this is how we need to play. That we can beat the best side in the world; that we had the potential to beat anyone.
You were a rookie going into a match against the best team in the world…
For me, every game was about survival. I was out of the India team and making a comeback. A lot of things happened to me before that. I was chucked out of the National Cricket Academy. Then I lost my father. I almost lost my place on the Punjab Ranji team as well. I was going through a very rough patch. I even thought about forgetting everything and doing something else in life.
Australia were off to a great start, scoring more than three an over…
Australia were batting as if they were playing a one-day match. Hayden was in great form. He had scored a brilliant hundred at Mumbai (the previous Test), which I felt gave him that direction on how to bat in India. He started playing those big sweep shots and slogs over midwicket. His frame was so imposing as a bowler, you wondered “Isko beat kaise karein? (How do you beat his bat?)” Hayden was taking the game away from us. He got out on the boundary line (caught off Singh’s bowling), that too on 97. That kind of opened the door for us. Then I got Mark Waugh after tea. Everything was in our favour after that, I got the hat-trick and the game was equal at the end of the first day.
What can you tell us about the three deliveries that yielded the hat-trick?
I tried to keep it very simple. I wanted to make sure I was not giving away too many runs. I wanted to bowl wicket to wicket. It was a very nice wicket to bat on. The ball skidded on to Ricky Ponting (first wicket) and he was a bit late and got out LBW. Adam Gilchrist: I knew if I tossed up the first ball he would sit and sweep; that was his get-out-of-jail shot, so I wanted to pull my length back a little and bowl a little quicker to him. He went back and didn’t have much time to react—the ball hit his pads.
For Shane Warne, I just wanted to make sure the ball was finishing on the stumps and kept the length fuller. Lot of people used to play with pads, and if he deliberately pads, then I may have a chance to get him LBW, I thought. I had bowled exactly where I wanted to, and he played that flick shot. S Ramesh, for a change, was very alert and took an outstanding catch off a full-blooded shot. Everyone out there was celebrating and the way Rahul Dravid hugged Ramesh was as if it was his hat-trick. That’s how it was, the kind of care we had for each other. As much as that hat-trick is mine, it is the team’s hat-trick.
What were your teammates saying to you before that hat-trick?
There wasn’t much advice, to be honest. They didn’t want to confuse me. I only spoke to Dada (Sourav Ganguly). I asked, “What I should do”? He said: Just bowl the way you want to, I will set the field, you will have a lot of catching fielders; if it’s meant to happen it will happen.
Do you still speak to Ramesh about that catch?
I keep meeting Ramesh on commentary stints and I tell him: thank you for being awake that day. Normally he was so laidback that if there was an award for laziness he would have got it. If you look at his batting style it was also like that, but quite effective. I always remind him, he is a lovely guy.
Australia fought back (from 291/8 to finish at 445) through Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie…
We fancied our chances of getting them early but knowing Steve Waugh, the kind of player he was, he would not give his wicket away, you had to earn it. He got a brilliant hundred with the tail and was the last one to get out. We didn’t think we would collapse like that (171 all out) on a good wicket. Australians had the edge on us since they had the runs on the board (445) and Glenn McGrath was brilliant. We were outplayed in the first innings, but the second innings was very, very exciting for all of us.
VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid shared the best partnership I have ever seen in Test cricket. It was pure magic.
On the final day, at tea, Australia were comfortably placed at 163 for three. With Hayden and Steve Waugh batting, it didn’t look like there would be a good result for India…
We had created a few chances before tea. Hayden was dropped at mid-off. Something was happening on the wicket; we just wanted to put enough pressure on them. We had a lot of close-in fielders, we had the runs on the board, so we were not worried about going for runs. Our main job was to take those wickets.
I have seen that in Kolkata, the game moves really fast in the last session (post-tea). Wickets fall in that period. I have seen that in all the matches I have played there. After Steve Waugh got out, it opened the door for us, then Sachin (Tendulkar) came in to bowl and bowled that brilliant spell, taking three very important wickets.
It was a big opportunity for us to win the game from nowhere. It’s the game that changed my career and I think that it changed cricket. Teams stopped giving follow-ons after that.
At the start of the match, there was so much pressure. What were you feeling at the end of it?
I was happy, satisfied and proud. I was part of a history-making team. We had given everyone a reason to smile. Before the series there was a lot of negativity after the match-fixing scandal. It had put people off watching the game. That was the series that brought confidence back for the people, got the crowd back into the game.
For me, it gave me self-belief: if I could take five wickets twice, that too against this Australian team, it meant I could play at this level. I was determined to make the most of things now. What I had done in this game, I told myself, I would continue even in the next game. In every game, I would try to repeat this performance. Which is not possible obviously, but I decided I would make the effort.
What do you remember doing after the win?
I used to call my mother every day. I spoke to her. I also remember receiving a letter from our prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee… a fax to congratulate me. In the dressing room, we opened a bottle of champagne. We had a great time. We celebrated the way such a win is supposed to be celebrated.
And you took that confidence into the next game?
The whole series, we bowled good lines and good areas. By the third Test, we knew exactly what our plan was for each batsman, how we would execute it and what sorts of fields had to be set. When you’re bowling in a great rhythm, all you need is to focus and you can make things happen.
It was an important game for Ganguly as captain too…
Honestly, I had no idea how important it was for Sourav. For me, it was about survival. If my performance helped Sourav’s career or benefitted the team, great. The reason for which he backed me, it paid off. He had gone all the way to the selectors. Even though I had wickets in the Ranji Trophy to back my claim, I was not the preferred spinner. It was Sourav and John Wright who saw me bowling and they backed me. They said, “He is probably bowling the best in the lot and he should be playing.” It paid off. God is watching. If you help someone needy, God will help you. That is exactly what happened. I was in need, and I got that support. Yes, I got the performance, but so many perform well and don’t get a chance. I got the chance, and it worked.
What is the souvenir from the match that you have kept?
I have kept everything: the clothes I wore, the stump, the ball.
