No one could pick Saqlain Mushtaq’s doosra: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh, the veteran Indian spinner, admitted that former Pakistan tweaker Saqlain Mushtaq’s doosra was the toughest to pick. Saqlain had a reasonable career after he managed to pick 208 and 288 wickets in 49 Tests and 169 ODIs respectively. He made his debut back in September 2015 and made his final appearance for Pakistan in the home Tests against India in 2004.

In the 1999 World Cup, the Lahore, Punjab-born churned out a hat-trick against Zimbabwe at the Kennington Oval in London. Hailing him as genuine match-winning, Harbhajan said that Saqlain used to deliver in the death overs, making crucial breakthroughs. Singh put forth his opinions during a chat on Instagram Live with Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

“Saqi bhai was class, he was a class bowler, a great bowler. No one could pick the doosra he bowled and he was a true match-winner. He would often bowl between the 45th and 50th over and invariably pick a couple of wickets and win the match for his team,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying during the interaction.

I loved watching Graeme Swann: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan, however, named Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan as his all-time greatest. The Lankan spinner ended his career with 1,347 scalps for the national team with a stunning 67 five-wicket hauls and 22 ten-wicket hauls. He last played international cricket in the final of the 2011 World Cup final against India at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Among his current favourites, Harbhajan kept Nathan Lyon at the top. Lyon is the third in the list of all-time wicket-takers for Australia in Tests after Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. In 96 Tests, Lyon has notched 390 wickets and at the age of 32, he still has quite a few years of cricket left in him.

Harbhajan also had words of praises for Graeme Swann, the former England spinner. In 60 Tests, Swann picked up 255 wickets.

“My favourite off-spinner right now is Nathan Lyon. I loved watching Graeme Swann because of his consistent length. [Muttiah] Muralitharan (800 Test scalps, 534 ODI wickets) would be number one on the list,” he added.

As far as Harbhajan is concerned, he had 417 wickets in his kitty from 103 Tests with a hat-trick versus the Aussies in 2001 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.