Harbhajan Singh is one of the best off-spinners to have donned the Indian jersey and his record in international cricket is nothing less than phenomenal. Recently, the talismanic cricketer went down the memory lane and recalled how he grabbed the attention of players like Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar during a net session in Mohali. In an interaction with Aakash Chopra, Harbhajan revealed that his ability to bowl ‘doosra’ helped him to get a place in the Indian team early in his career. Harbhajan Singh Questions Virender Sehwag's Exclusion From Wasim Jaffer’s All-Time India ODI XI.

“The doosra helped me in getting selected early on in the Indian team. There were not many bowlers bowling the doosra at that time. That delivery of mine was slightly better than others. I used to call it leg-cutter, it was named as doosra because Moin Khan from behind the stumps used to shout to Saqlain Mushtaq ‘Saqi doosra daal de, doosra daal de’, so it got famous. That leg-cutter helped me in getting into the Indian team,” Harbhajan said while featuring in Aakash Chopra’s chat show Akash Vani.

The Punjab-born cricketer further said that he was scared when he was asked to bowl at the nets during a Test match in Mohali. “I was called in at the nets in Mohali during a Test match. They said ‘you come in here, we want to have a look at you’. So I got scared of what will happen. By the time I reached there, the net sessions were almost completed,” he recalled.

“Debasish Mohanty was batting at the nets. Azhar bhai, Sachin, they all had already had their batting session. I remember Azzu bhai was having lunch. When I reached there, they said ‘oh, he’s a youngster, let him bowl a few deliveries at least’,” added the two time World Cup winner.

Harbhajan also said that he dismissed Mohanty 4-5 in the span of 7-8 deliveries while Sachin was standing beside him. “When I was bowling, Sachin Tendulkar was standing by my side. He was bowling at the nets. I had bowled 7-8 deliveries to Mohanty and he got out 4-5 times. He was Mohanty after all, not Sachin Tendulkar,” he further added.

“Then, suddenly Ajay Jadeja saw me, he called Azzu bhai ‘look at this boy’, so he also saw me. Then Sachin spoke to me and he said ‘keep your focus on the game. I wish you all the best, I hope you play for India.”

Tendulkar’s words boosted the confidence of the off-spinner as he started to put in extra efforts and got a break in the Indian team during a 1998 Home Test series Vs Australia.

“Sachin’s words of advise were to keep my focus on the game. From that day I decided that I have to keep not only 100 percent, but 120 percent focus on my game. Because I realised that if I want to play for India, then I have to put in even more effort. That was the day when I was spotted, and a year later, I was playing Test cricket for India,” the bowler said.

Harbhajan didn’t look back after getting a place in the national team and bowled one brilliant spell after another. He scalped 32 wickets against the mighty Australians during the 2001 Test series and proved his mettle. The offie is also the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Also, he was the part of the Indian team which lifted the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 12, 2020 01:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).