Eden Gardens never lets anyone return empty-handed: Harbhajan Singh

The ousted Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had a sense of deja vu when he saw Kuldeep Yadav taking a hat-trick at the Eden Gardens. He did the same against the same opposition 16 years ago in 2001 on the same ground albeit in the longest format of the game. However, he feels that the strong performances of the chinaman bowler and Yuzvendra Chahal have made it extremely difficult for the likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

The spinning duo has picked 10 wickets together so far in first two matches of the series. While the pacers have looked penetrating at the top, the wrist spinners have wreaked havoc in the opposition camp in the middle overs. Australian batsmen have looked clueless against the variations both of them possess.

My mind travelled back to 2001

Harbhajan Singh recalled the hat-trick he claimed in 2001 in a Test match at Eden Gardens against the same opposition. He was ecstatic to watch Kuldeep strangling the Australian bowlers and replicating what he did at the similar age. “Wahi opposition, wahi lamha, wahi ground aur ek spinner jiska age bhi utna (The same opposition, same ground, another spinner of same age). Somehow as I was watching Kuldeep bowl, my mind travelled back to that afternoon (2001 March) at the Eden Gardens. It is a great achievement,” he said.

He also said that the achievement is to savour for rest of the life and heaped praises on the iconic stadium. “For a young spinner, when you get a hat-trick early in your career, your confidence shoots up to a different level. This is a milestone which each and every cricketer savours for the rest of his life. Eden Gardens never lets anyone return empty-handed. And this achievement will forever be etched in the history books,” the 37-year-old added.

However, the veteran feels that the current spinning duo has made it tough for the preferred one of Ashwin and Jadeja. “It’s always a difficult thing. If your current two spinners are doing well, then it becomes difficult for the senior spinners to make a comeback. For Jaddu and Ashwin, it will be an onerous task to make a comeback in the ODI side. At the moment, these two boys (Kuldeep and Chahal) are really doing well and I don’t see them being replaced by Ashwin and Jaddu. You can’t predict what’s in store for the future,” Bhajji continued.

He was also optimistic of the Kuldeep and Chahal making it to 2019 World Cup squad but didn’t predict anything saying that the event is far away. “See, I don’t know about the World Cup. World Cup is quite far away to be very honest but they are doing really well and I am really proud of them. Let’s all wait and watch, how far these guys can go and continue doing well for India. I wish them all the luck and hope both grow from strength to strength,” the off-spinner bowled the ‘doosra’ with his comment in the end.