Harbhajan Singh, a former India offspinner, is largely regarded as one of the greatest Indian spinners of modern times.
The 42-year-old recently came forward to tell an event from India’s 1999 tour of Australia. Harbhajan recounted an instance in which then-India captain Sachin Tendulkar became irritated with him for being inattentive.
He recalls Tendulkar losing his calm after being distracted on the boundary line. Harbhajan Singh described how, as a 20-year-old, he was distracted by a ‘few gorgeous girls’ seated near the boundary line on his maiden trip to Australia.
Harbhajan Singh on how Sachin got angry on him
Writing in the newly published ‘Sachin@50’, Harbhajan Singh wrote,
“For a 20-year-old who had just started touring and was on his first trip to Australia, stealing a few furtive glances and exchanging smiles I thought were par for the course. Now because of my inattentiveness, I was late in anticipating a few shots that came towards the boundary. But things got worse when I got caught busy ogling, and I didn’t hear Sachin shouting from mid-on, as he wanted a field change. Instead, before I realised it, he was standing beside me, visibly angry. ‘Bhajji, please know one thing. You have seen my good side, but if I want, I can be rude, and you wouldn’t like to see that side of me, you better concentrate,”
he added.
In addition, Harbhajan Singh talked about how Tendulkar’s advice helped him achieve success in international cricket.
Tendulkar sat with him long after the Test was done and gave him some sound advice, according to the former Indian spinner.
“Sachin, I remember, pulled a chair and sat beside me long after the Test got over. ‘Bhajju, have you seen a racehorse? It doesn’t look sideways. It doesn’t have peripheral vision. It looks straight, and the eyes are transfixed on the target. You have to be that. You cannot be distracted by the stardom which you have attained now,”
Harbhajan Singh wrote.
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