IPL: Harbhajan Singh's top 3 knocks

Harbhajan Singh has been a loyal servant of the Mumbai Indians since the inception of the IPL. He was the first captain of the Mumbai franchise and also led the team to their maiden Champions League T20 Trophy, in 2011.

Harbhajan has picked up 127 wickets in 136 games at an impressive average of 26.78 with best figures of 5/18 coming against Chennai Super Kings 2011.

Even with the willow, Harbhajan has contributed valuable runs lower down the order. Despite that, Mumbai Indians opted not to retain him in this year’s auction, which might prove to be a setback for the Men in Blue. The Turbanator will feature for Chennai Super Kings and look to perform with both bat and ball when the need arises.

On that note, let us take a look at Harbhajan's three best knocks with the bat in the IPL:

#3 45*off 30 balls vs Rising Pune Supergiants – 2016 IPL

This was the inaugural game of the 9th season of the Indian Premier League, played between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants. The Maharashtrian derby was played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Electing to bat, Mumbai Indians got off to a bad start, losing 4 wickets for 37 runs inside 6 overs. Things went from bad to worse when they were reduced to 51/6 by the end of 11 overs.

Harbhajan walked out to accompany Ambati Rayudu with 9 overs left in the innings. He started his innings slowly, scoring only 4 singles off the first 10 deliveries. Rayudu was then dismissed on the first ball of the 16th over and Mumbai were tottering at 68/7. This is when Harbhajan decided to cut loose. In the 19th over, he smashed left-arm pacer RP Singh for 3 boundaries, peppering the straight and leg-side boundaries.

The ball was then handed to Ishant Sharma to bowl the final over of the Innings. Harbhajan clobbered the second ball of the over straight down the ground for a boundary. He got the strike back for the last two deliveries in which he smashed a six and a four to take Mumbai Indians to a respectable total of 121/8 in the 20 overs thanks to a valuable 45 off 30 balls, which included 7 boundaries and 1 hit over the fence.

In reply, Pune reached the target of 122 in 14.4 overs, losing only 1 wicket. Although this was a poor game for Mumbai Indians, Harbhajan Singh was applauded for saving his team with the bat from an embarrassing situation.

#2 64 off 24 balls vs Kings XI Punjab – IPL 2015

This knock came during the 8th edition of the Indian Premier League (2015) in the match played between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at Wankhede Stadium. Put into bat first, Kings XI got off to a rollicking start thanks to quick-fire 30s from Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay before both got out to Harbhajan Singh. However, George Bailey (61 runs off 32 balls) propelled Kings XI Punjab to a solid score of 177/5 in their allocated 20 overs.

In reply, Mumbai Indians got off to a disastrous start, losing Rohit Sharma off the 2nd ball of the innings. Mumbai never recovered and lost wickets at regular intervals. By the end of 14 overs, Mumbai were 60/6, needing 118 runs in 6 overs at nearly 20 runs per over.

What followed was some breath-taking hitting by Harbhajan. He first smashed Rishi Dhawan for 4 fours in the 15th over and then followed it up with 2 gigantic sixes and a boundary against the fiery Mitchell Johnson in the 16th over.

In the 17th over, he smashed the medium pacer Anureet Singh for 3 massive sixes off 3 consecutive deliveries towards the leg side boundary, mostly targeting deep mid-wicket. He quickly raced away to 40 off 14 balls.

In the 18th over, he smashed the rookie Dhawan for a humongous six over the long-on boundary. He brought up his 50 in style by slicing a fuller delivery towards the point region. He reached his maiden IPL fifty in just 19 balls and thus broke the record for fastest 50 by a Mumbai Indians player.

With 30 needed off the last over, Harbhajan hit a four and a six on the 2nd and 3rd ball of the over. With 19 to get off 3 balls, Harbhajan couldn’t connect with the 4th ball and was subsequently dismissed.

He was congratulated by the Kings XI Punjab team members and the entire Wankhede Stadium stood up and applauded his swashbuckling knock.

Kings XI Punjab won the game by 18 runs but this match will be remembered for Harbhajan’s heroics with the bat.

#1 49 off 18 balls vs Deccan Chargers – 2010 IPL

Deccan Chargers clashed with Mumbai Indians on March 28th at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Put into bat first, Mumbai Indians got off to a decent start but then lost wickets regularly with Sachin Tendulkar waging a lone battle at the other end. The Little Master got out in the 17th over for a well made 55. At this juncture, Mumbai were struggling at 7-120 with 3 overs left.

Harbhajan Singh then started off his innings with a bang by smashing Andrew Symonds for a four and a six of the fifth and sixth balls of the 18th over.

In the penultimate over of the innings, the Turbanator went berserk. West Indian fast bowler Kemar Roach was given the ball and he was greeted with a boundary off the very first ball of the over.

Off the 2nd ball of the over, Harbhajan smashed an overpitched delivery towards the deep square leg boundary for a huge six. A shattered Roach made amends with a dot ball on the 3rd delivery. But there was no respite for the West Indian as Harbhajan smashed 2 boundaries off the 4th and 5th deliveries. He raced away to 32 off 11 balls with an over to play.

Jaskaran Singh was given the final over and the inexperienced player was under severe pressure. He bowled 2 beamers, one of which went for a boundary, and was immediately removed from the bowling attack. Rohit Sharma was then tasked with completing the over. The off-spinner was taken to the cleaners by Harbhajan who smashed him for 3 consecutive boundaries. He followed it up with a single and got back the strike on the last ball of the innings. Batting on 49 off 17 balls and with a 50 in sight, he couldn’t connect on the last ball, thus missing out on a well deserved maiden half-century.

Harbhajan's breezy knock helped Mumbai Indians reach a formidable total of 172/7 in the 20 overs. He was then handed over the ball to bowl the first over of Deccan’s chase. And he delivered by picking up the prized wicket of Adam Gilchrist off the second ball of the innings.

Deccan never got going despite Rohit Sharma’s 45 off 28 balls. In the end, Deccan lost to Mumbai by 41 runs.

Harbhajan was awarded the Man of the Match for his 49 with the bat and 3 wickets with the ball.