Harbhajan Singh's 400

India Offy Harbhajan Singh has become the 11th bowler and 4th from India to reach the landmark of 400 test wickets. He got WI Wicket Keeper Carlton Baugh as his 400th wicket.
Harbhajan who needed just 7 wickets at the beginning of the ongoing 3 match series, had to wait a bit to reach the exclusive club.
Harbhajan, who rose to prominence after a terific performance against Steve Waugh's Australia in 2001 with 32 wickets in a 3 match series, never again touched those high points, but with Anil Kumble, formed a potent spin attack that delivered many a win for India. But after becoming the leader of the spin pack after Kumble's retirement, it is believed by many that Harbhajan has lost a lot of his edge. He has often turned himself into a defensive bowler, and match winning displays have been few and far in between.
And as we all know, controversies have almost always followed Harbhajan.
How do you look at Harbhajan's 400? How do you look at Harbhajan the bowler?

96 tets, 400 wickets!!!!!!
He is huffing and puffing now, how would he get to 500 mark???

Well he is first finger spinner to take 400 wkts in history of Test cricket so he must be really good.

Mind you Murali, Warne and Kumble were all wrist spinners

ECricket wrote:Well he is first finger spinner to take 400 wkts in history of Test cricket so he must be really good.

Mind you Murali, Warne and Kumble were all wrist spinners

I doubt Harbhjan will be able to achieve any thinglike those legends did.
2010-11 has been vey disapoiniting for Harbie

activereactive wrote:

ECricket wrote:Well he is first finger spinner to take 400 wkts in history of Test cricket so he must be really good.

Mind you Murali, Warne and Kumble were all wrist spinners

I doubt Harbhjan will be able to achieve any thinglike those legends did.
2010-11 has been vey disapoiniting for Harbie

Not really. He did very well against both Aus and SA (26 wkts in 5 Tests)

His problem is that he doesnt take as many wickets against weak sides such as BD, NZ, WI. May be he loves a challenge to perform at his best.

Big congratulations to him. 400 test wickets is a heck of a lot, regardless of it being half the total murali got

Congrats to him. Big achievement.

congrats harbjahan- 400 test wickets is a huge achievement

In all fairness his stats are disappointing.

His first 250 Test wickets came at 26.

Last 150 wickets have come at 40 odd

Harbhajan is a pretty good bowler, but not a great bowler.

Congratulations Harbhajan, a great achievement.

Harbhajan has had a career of highs and some pretty low points. these days, may be because of an ODI overkill, Bhaji has become a more defensive bowler, and keeps frustrating people. But every now and then, he surprises people with an absolutely brilliant performance. The South Africa series was a case in point. But after that he's gone back to the defenseive mode again. If Harbhajan could win this test match for India, that would be just fitting the pattern.

Masked Magician wrote:In all fairness his stats are disappointing.

His first 250 Test wickets came at 26.

Last 150 wickets have come at 40 odd

Harbhajan is a pretty good bowler, but not a great bowler.

everyone has tough times, stop being stubborn and accept the fact he is one of the greatest spinners around...

*although dont bowl well against england*

Masked Magician wrote:Harbhajan is a pretty good bowler, but not a great bowler.

Over the last few years, he is not even a pretty good bowler.

But credit to him; a career is judged over its entire span and not by selecting just the peaks or the troughs.

The 400 may have given him some confidence, yesterday against the WI he bowled as if he suddenly remembered he can actually pick up wickets. There was flight, there was loop, he bowled at a spinner's pace, so he got the ball to turn and bounce, and troubled all the batters. He would have had more, had the fielding was fully supportive.

cricketfan90 wrote:

Masked Magician wrote:In all fairness his stats are disappointing.

His first 250 Test wickets came at 26.

Last 150 wickets have come at 40 odd

Harbhajan is a pretty good bowler, but not a great bowler.

everyone has tough times, stop being stubborn and accept the fact he is one of the greatest spinners around...

*although dont bowl well against england*

Stop talking rubbish.

Indians themselves say he's not in the class of Prasanna.

Harbhajan isn't great. Fact.

Why do you bother posting?

Harbajan now has joined the elite of 400+ wickets in tests. I think that proves him as a great of the modern game

Gregers wrote:Why do you bother posting?

Harbajan now has joined the elite of 400+ wickets in tests. I think that proves him as a great of the modern game

400 is just a number.

You know nothing about cricket.

Harbhajan has 400+, Saqlain only had 200. Saqlain was a world class bowler, Singh isn't.

Sainty is right, this is a cricket discussion and questioning my knowledge of cricket just proves everything that people have said about you.

Anyways, IMO Harbajan has proved that he is up there with the other spinners of his generation. Is he as good as Murali, Warne, Kumble? NO

Is he better than Saqlain, its difficult to say as Saqlain didnt play as many tests. As a sussex fan Mushy was always and will always be one of my favourite players of all time

Gregers wrote:Sainty is right, this is a cricket discussion and questioning my knowledge of cricket just proves everything that people have said about you.

Anyways, IMO Harbajan has proved that he is up there with the other spinners of his generation. Is he as good as Murali, Warne, Kumble? NO

Is he better than Saqlain, its difficult to say as Saqlain didnt play as many tests. As a sussex fan Mushy was always and will always be one of my favourite players of all time

I don't rate Pakistani spinners very highly, as they produce better quicks. But Saqlain was a magician.

Harbhajan has never lived up to the hype over his 32 wicket series vs Australia in 2001.

The only fair way to judge a player is vs his contemporaries imo. And Harbajan doesn't stack up against the best around during his career. Good, but not great for me.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:The only fair way to judge a player is vs his contemporaries imo. And Harbajan doesn't stack up against the best around during his career. Good, but not great for me.

So which finger spinner has done as well as Harbhajan?

In recent years (can't compare before as he wasn't playing international cricket) - Graeme Swann.

ECricket wrote:

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:The only fair way to judge a player is vs his contemporaries imo. And Harbajan doesn't stack up against the best around during his career. Good, but not great for me.

So which finger spinner has done as well as Harbhajan?

Harbhajan has 400 weickets simply because he has played soo many Tests.

If Saqlain had played 96 Tests, he might have had 450-500 wickets.

He'll be judged against his fellow spinners, regardless of whether he was a wrist or finger spinner. And in that regard he's never been really been regarded as the best guy around throughot his career.

Masked Magician wrote:

ECricket wrote:

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:The only fair way to judge a player is vs his contemporaries imo. And Harbajan doesn't stack up against the best around during his career. Good, but not great for me.

So which finger spinner has done as well as Harbhajan?

Harbhajan has 400 weickets simply because he has played soo many Tests.

If Saqlain had played 96 Tests, he might have had 450-500 wickets.

Ifs and buts count for none. Saqlain wasnt good enough and thats why he didnt play too many Tests.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:He'll be judged against his fellow spinners, regardless of whether he was a wrist or finger spinner. And in that regard he's never been really been regarded as the best guy around throughot his career.

So by your logic there is no other great batsman in this era other than Tendulkar and Lara because none of others are considered at par to these two.

ECricket wrote:

Masked Magician wrote:

ECricket wrote:

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:The only fair way to judge a player is vs his contemporaries imo. And Harbajan doesn't stack up against the best around during his career. Good, but not great for me.

So which finger spinner has done as well as Harbhajan?

Harbhajan has 400 weickets simply because he has played soo many Tests.

If Saqlain had played 96 Tests, he might have had 450-500 wickets.

Ifs and buts count for none. Saqlain wasnt good enough and thats why he didnt play too many Tests.

Saqlain is the only spinner to take 2 consecutive 10 wicket hauls in India.

Not good enough? Pull the other one, it was injuries that ruined Saqlain.

LeBron's Homie wrote:

ECricket wrote:

Masked Magician wrote:

ECricket wrote:

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:The only fair way to judge a player is vs his contemporaries imo. And Harbajan doesn't stack up against the best around during his career. Good, but not great for me.

So which finger spinner has done as well as Harbhajan?

Harbhajan has 400 weickets simply because he has played soo many Tests.

If Saqlain had played 96 Tests, he might have had 450-500 wickets.

Ifs and buts count for none. Saqlain wasnt good enough and thats why he didnt play too many Tests.

Saqlain is the only spinner to take 2 consecutive 10 wicket hauls in India.

Not good enough? Pull the other one, it was injuries that ruined Saqlain.

And Harbhajan has taken 90+ wickets against best team of his era.

Injuries ruin career of many people, doesnt mean we should start counting "ifs" of all of them.

Don't get over protective. Yes Singh has 90 odd wickets vs Australia, but how many in Australia? Hardly any. He's never taken a Test wicket in Pakistan. Singh was so whar carried by the great Anil Kumble. No more Kumble, no more magic from Singh.

How many wkts does Murali have in Australia?

Singh took 32 wkts in absence of Kumble, deal with facts not your silly impressions

ECricket wrote:How many wkts does Murali have in Australia?

Singh took 32 wkts in absence of Kumble, deal with facts not your silly impressions

Soon after that series Singh was reported for a suspect action...

lets stop with the wumming guys its relle boring now

LeBron's Homie wrote:

ECricket wrote:How many wkts does Murali have in Australia?

Singh took 32 wkts in absence of Kumble, deal with facts not your silly impressions

Soon after that series Singh was reported for a suspect action...

No he wasnt .... like I said deal with the facts and stop being an idiot on internet

Harbhajan is decent but no better. I think he's the worst bowler to have taken 400+ wickets.

I can't understand all the hype about Saqlain. Saqlain was pretty good to start with, but then he overused the doosra and then got found out at international level. Danish Kaneria was no absolute world beater who easily managed to outclass Saqlain by performance. Saqlain's performance declined and he found himself out of the team. Anyone remember his last test match? Harbhajan may not be the greatest spinner, may not belong to the class of a Warne, Murali or a Kumble, but he is not as bad as some would like to believe.

harbajhan has been a quality spinner in his generation..