Harbhajan Singh: First Indian Hat-Trick in Tests (2001 Kolkata) and 417 Test Wickets
Harbhajan Singh played 103 Tests and 236 ODIs for India between 1998 and 2015, taking 417 Test wickets at 32.46 — the third-highest by any Indian spinner after Muralitharan and Kumble. He took the first Test hat-trick by an Indian against Australia on 11 March 2001 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata — dismissing Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Shane Warne with his off-break and doosra. He was India's primary spin weapon in the 2000s alongside Anil Kumble.
Harbhajan Singh played 103 Tests for India between 1998 and 2015, taking 417 wickets at 32.46 — the most by any Indian off-spinner and third-highest by an Indian bowler. He was selected for the 2001 series against Australia at age 20 and delivered one of cricket's most celebrated series performances.
The Hat-Trick: Kolkata, 11 March 2001
In the first innings of the second Test at Eden Gardens on 11 March 2001, Harbhajan Singh took the first Test hat-trick by an Indian — dismissing Ricky Ponting (bowled, off-break), Adam Gilchrist (LBW, off-break), and Shane Warne (bowled, off-break). He finished the innings with 7/123. His doosra — an off-spinner's delivery that turns the opposite direction (like a leg-break from an off-spinner's grip) — was then a new and little-known variant that Australian batters had not encountered. He took 8/84 in the decisive third Test at Chepauk, Chennai, as India won the series 2–1.
Career and Legacy
Harbhajan took 32 wickets in the 2001 series against Australia — the most by an Indian spinner in any home Test series. His 417 Test wickets include 25 five-wicket hauls and 5 ten-wicket match hauls. He played IPL cricket for Mumbai Indians from 2008, winning four titles (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013). His action was investigated for legality twice (2001 and 2008); he was cleared both times after biomechanical testing. He retired from all international cricket in December 2021.
Frequently asked questions
How did the doosra change Australian batters' ability to play Harbhajan in the 2001 series, and what was the biomechanical debate about its legality that followed?
The doosra and Australian vulnerability in 2001: Australian batters in 2001 were well-drilled against conventional off-spin — Ponting, Gilchrist, and others had spent years playing Shane Warne's leg-spin, and their defensive technique was calibrated for leg-to-off movement. Harbhajan's doosra (which turns from off to leg for a right-hander — opposite to a normal off-break) was disorienting because: (1) The batter's read was off: the visible wrist position and delivery action looked like a standard off-break, but the ball turned the other way. (2) Indian pitches in 2001 were turning square by day 3 and 4, amplifying the doosra's deviation. The biomechanical controversy: the doosra requires forearm supination (rotating the forearm outward) at delivery, which under the laws of cricket at the time (later amended) was deemed to require an elbow flex exceeding 15 degrees to produce the outward rotation. Harbhajan's action was measured in 2001 and 2008 by the ICC biomechanical testing facility. The elbow extension in his action was measured at approximately 14–16 degrees (at the legal limit). The ICC cleared him in both investigations. The broader debate: Saqlain Mushtaq (inventor of the doosra), Muttiah Muralitharan, and Johan Botha all faced similar biomechanical scrutiny. The consensus conclusion: the doosra is a delivery that tests the boundary of the throwing/bowling distinction in the Laws, and Harbhajan's clearance is considered valid under the standards of the testing methodology applied.