The Turbanator returns: Harbhajan's dream comeback

Colombo, Sep 24: Stage: T 20 World Cup, Opponent: England, Bowling figures: 4 overs, 2 maidens, 12 runs and 4 wickets. These were the statistics of the 'Turbanator' Harbhajan Singh when he made a remarkable comeback against England in the World T20 league match on Sunday (Sept 23). The comeback was like a dream which couldn't have been better than this. After a string of poor performances on West Indies tour and injury on England tour, Bhajji came out on a positive note and led Mumbai Indians to their first ever title triumph in Champions League 2011.Despite the match-winning performances in CLT20 he was not picked for home series against West Indies, Australian tour and Asia Cup. Harbhajan's performance in CLT20 2011 could not attract selectors. Selectors appeared to have decided to give chance to emerging youngsters like R. Ashwin. Harbhajan was thus excluded from the list of probables also.Neverthless, the Turbanator, believing in himself,went on to play 2012 edition of IPL. Although his performance was not up to the standards that he set in the past, but he led Mumbai Indians to semi-final.As they say, patience is the virtue of success, Harbhajan did not lose his heart, kept patience and went on to play county cricket for Essex in England. Then came a surprising selection, Harbhajan was included in the T20 squad in the recently concluded home series against New Zealand. Though he did not get a match to play n the series, the doors were open for him to prove himself yet again.Interestingly his selection came with the retirement of chief selector K. Srikkant. It appears as if he wanted to wipe out all the differences with the senior off-spinner. It's however never too late. Keeping Harbhajan out of the national squad for so long has done a lot of good to the wily spinner and this was what spectators witnessed on Sunday against the Brits. Raring to go and pulling his socks up, the 'turbanator' spinned the English team to their lowest ever total in T20 international. Bhajji proved that his hunger for wickets and his passion for cricket is ever increasing and he showed selectors that he cannot be sidelined for long.Undoubtedly, Harbhajan's return to the form is a good news for Team India, but as far as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is concerned, it's going to be a really tough test to select the best bowling unit in the remaining series.Harbhajan is an aggresive bowler and seems to have regained his sharpness. Apart from this he can bat as well with equal aggression, best suited for the shorter format of the game. On the other hand R. Ashwin is already in form and he can bat as well. It will be interesting to see who Dhoni plays in the first clash against Australia in the Super-8 stage on 28th September: Harbhajan or Ashwin or both?Whoever plays, it is going to be Dhoni's decision and it is going to be a test of his captaincy and team handling skills as well.The good news is that the 'Turbanator' is back and one thing is for certain: he enjoys hunting kangaroos.