DLF League

Thursday 20, November 2008

Another one bites the dust.

The fingers were held jubilantly aloft in a double V-sign worthy of Churchill or Nixon. For the second time this month, having secured his three hundredth Test wicket in Nagpur, Harbhajan Singh had carved himself a slice of history - and he was not about to change the habits of a lifetime and go all shy and modest on us.
 
Owais Shah, swallowed at long-off, was his two hundredth victim in ODIs, a milestone reached by just seven other spinners. Harbhajan’s delight was unmistakeable, not least since his third victim of the innings also effectively ensured England’s total would be sub-par. What’s not to celebrate? 
 
It must be conceded, mind, that his overall statistics are neither unduly nor uniformly flattering. His strike rate (47.1 balls per wicket) is the worst among those eight twirlers; only Shahid Afridi and Sanath Jayasuriya have a costlier average than his 32.85, and both are batsmen first and foremost.
 
Against New Zealand Harbhajan averages 42 per wicket; against Pakistan that figure soars to 71, with a strike rate of 90.6. In six encounters with Bangladesh, the rate rises to 96.
 
On the other hand, his economy rate (4.18 runs per over) is the third most frugal among this elite club of slow men, lagging behind only the Sri Lankan maestro Muttiah Muralitharan (3.88) and, barely, New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (4.17). Few contemporary bowlers, certainly, are as adept at muting batsmen.
 
England, moreover, remain much his favourite opponents among the major nations. Both his 50-over five-fors have come against them - 5-31 at Delhi in 2006 and 5-43 at Mumbai in 2002, though England won on the latter occasion, persuading Andrew Flintoff to rip off his shirt in acclamation of a tied series. All told, in 20 matches, Harbhajan has picked up 33 wickets against them at 23.18, with an economy rate of 3.96 and a strike rate of 35.
 
That command was in evidence once more today, and nowhere more vividly than in the ball of the match.
 
Harbhajan had already inflicted one deadening blow on England’s prospects of a challenging total by luring Kevin Pietersen into indiscretion, a rash advance followed by a drive that was intended to sail over long-on but wound up in long-off’s hands. His next over confirmed both the artistry of the man and the variety of weapons in his arsenal.
 
Drawing Paul Collingwood forward with flight and bemusing him with turn, the ball, a doosra, spun the other way, leaving the nuggety all-rounder stranded. MS Dhoni’s stumping completed an expert execution.
 
Those hand signals signified something other than 200, of course. V, after all, is for Victory. And nobody did more to achieve that today than The Turbanator.