Brett Lee reveals why he ‘hated’ bowling to Harbhajan Singh.
Brett Lee and Harbhajan Singh have been part of some memorable contests between India and Australia – all the way from the early 2000s to 2012 – when they played their last ODI against each other. But while Lee’s aim was mostly to get the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan was the one he hated bowling to. Yes, the fiery Brett Lee, one of the quickest pace bowlers of all time, despised bowling to Harbhajan. One would consider it a piece of cake, right? Well, the answer is no. As it turns out, Harbhajan’s shenanigans whenever Lee bowled to him would get inside the ex-Aussie pacer’s skin to the extent that Lee would be left fuming with frustration.
Lee and Harbhajan have been rivals in some unforgettable India-Australia series. The 2007/08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the CB series the same year, the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal and Australia’s historic Test series win in India in 2004 were some instances when Lee and Harbhajan were at the peak of their bowling prowess. One of the reasons behind Lee’s struggles against Harbhajan stems from the claim that the Indian spinner would deliberately chatter away to gain an upper hand, and needless to say, after this admission, he succeeded at it.
“Harbhajan Singh. I hated bowling to him because he used to annoy the hell out of me, and I’ve told him this. He is an absolute legend of a bloke; I hope he hears this because – and he knows – he used to frustrate the sh** out of me when I bowled to him. He would sledge and he would hop in and going after me ‘You’re quick’. I could never get him; I was always exhausted,” Lee said.
“When he came in to bat, it was at the wrong end of a spell. When I said ‘Mate, you’re a bloody ripping bloke. Why don’t you show me how good you are or now nice you are? He goes ‘because I like that edge. I want to come across as if I am arrogant, or a person who is chirping in. So he was giving it back to us what we gave to them. Lovely guy.” ‘It all started when Dravid, Laxman batted the whole day’
Lee feels Harbhajan’s tactic reflected a new attitude change in the Indian team. Under Sourav Ganguly, the players no longer took nonsense from the opposition and instead gave it back in a timely manner, starting from the famous 2001 series, where India beat Kolkata after enforcing the follow-on. That series, to date, is believed by many, Lee included, to be the turning point of Indian cricket. Ganguly started that attitude, MS Dhoni built on it and Virat Kohli simply revelled in it.
“It started in that game when Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman batted the whole day. I was injured at home, watching it with my arm in a sling. It was them saying ‘We can match Australia. Not just match; we can beat them’. And now with Kohli, I love the way Kohli plays. He is such a good player… with that aggression. And you’ve got different guys like back in the day, MS Dhoni… didn’t say anything. Just did what he had to do and wouldn’t back down,” added Lee.
