Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh received appreciation for his kind gesture towards a Pakistani fan during the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final between Australia and India at The Oval.
A video of Harbhajan giving an autograph to a Pakistani fan with disabilities went viral on social media, capturing the hearts of many people.
Harbhajan, who represented Team India in 103 matches, claimed 417 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 2.84. Out of his 417 wickets, 95 were against Australia.
Respect granted by Harbhajan Singh at Oval,England #HarbhajanSingh | #Cricket pic.twitter.com/gjdca7qM4j
— 𝙄𝙩’𝙭 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙯𝙞 (@shaizitarar) June 8, 2023
In one-day cricket, he played 236 matches for India, taking 269 wickets, with his best bowling figures of 5/31 against England in 2006.
Prior to the match, Harbhajan expressed confidence in the Indian batting lineup’s ability to perform on the Oval track, following Australia’s dominant display in the first innings.
“The Oval is perhaps the best pitch to bat on in England, and it will only get better as the game progresses. I don’t think India will face any difficulties batting on this wicket. Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli are in good form, the weather has cleared up, and there is minimal cloud cover as well,” Harbhajan shared on his YouTube channel.
The veteran spinner also highlighted the Indian pacers’ inability to capitalize on the movement of the new ball during the initial overs.
“The Australian batsmen were comfortably playing on the back foot. India failed to make the most of the new ball. There was good carry and the ball beat the edge a few times, but it doesn’t matter unless it leads to a wicket. It wasn’t just one bowler who made the mistake; all four seamers made similar errors,” Harbhajan concluded.
During the WTC final, Australia were dismissed for 469 runs in their first innings, while India were batting at 98/4 in 24 overs at the time of this story’s publication.