22 Interesting Facts About Harbhajan Singh, the Turbanator

Published: July 3, 2021, 11:28 PM IST | Updated: October 26, 2026, 2:16 PM IST
Written by Akash Saha | Edited and fact-checked by Amit Saha | Editorial policy

Interesting Facts About Harbhajan Singh

1. Born in Jalandhar: Harbhajan was born into a Sikh family on 3 July 1980. His father, Sardev Singh Plaha, owned a ball-bearing and valve factory and encouraged him to pursue cricket rather than the family business.
2. Started as a batter: under his first coach, Charanjit Singh Bhullar, he trained as a batter. After Bhullar’s death he switched to off-spin under coach Davinder Arora.
3. Bhajji and the Turbanator: “Bhajji” is his nickname in the Indian dressing room; English fans named him “the Turbanator”.
4. Teenage prodigy: he made his first-class debut for Punjab in 1997-98 and finished his first-class career with 780 wickets in 198 matches.
5. U-19 World Cup: he played for India at the 1998 Under-19 World Cup.
6. Debut at 17: he made his Test debut against Australia in Bengaluru in March 1998 and his ODI debut against New Zealand in Sharjah the following month.
7. India’s first Test hat-trick: he dismissed Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne in successive balls at Eden Gardens in March 2001.
8. 32 wickets in three Tests: in that 2001 series against Steve Waugh’s Australia, with Anil Kumble injured, he took 32 wickets as India came from behind to win 2-1. He was Man of the Series.
9. A DSP in Punjab Police: after the 2001 series, the Punjab government offered him the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police.
10. 417 Test wickets: the fourth-most by an off-spinner, behind Muttiah Muralitharan, Nathan Lyon and R Ashwin. He was the third Indian to 400 Test wickets, after Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble, in 2011.
11. Monkeygate (2008): during the Sydney Test, he was banned for three Tests for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds. On appeal, Justice John Hansen found the racism charge not proven, downgraded it to abusive language and replaced the ban with a fine.
12. Two World Cups: he won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup with India, taking 7 and 9 wickets respectively.
13. Padma Shri: the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 2009.
14. Back-to-back Test hundreds at No. 8: against New Zealand in 2010 he scored 115 in Ahmedabad and 111* in Hyderabad, the first No. 8 batter to score hundreds in consecutive Test innings.
15. Mumbai Indians icon: signed by MI in the first IPL auction in 2008, he captained them to the 2011 Champions League T20 title.
16. The 2008 slap: he was banned for the rest of IPL 2008 after slapping S Sreesanth following a Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab match.
17. Four IPL titles: he won the IPL with Mumbai Indians in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and with Chennai Super Kings in 2018, finishing with 150 IPL wickets.
18. Family: he married actor Geeta Basra in 2015. They have a daughter, Hinaya Heer, and a son, Jovan Veer.
19. Bhajji Sports: he runs his own sports goods brand.
20. Jersey No. 3: he wore the number 3 shirt for India.
21. Retirement: he played his last international in 2016 and retired from all forms of cricket on 24 December 2021.
22. Member of Parliament: in 2022 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, and he also works as a commentator.

Harbhajan Singh Career Stats

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