Veteran Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, popularly known as the 'turbanator' attracted the eyeballs while entering the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.
Harbhajan Singh was recalled in the Indian Test squad for the tour of Bangladesh, starting on Wednesday 10 June.
Harbhajan Singh had played his last Test match in 2013 against Australia in Hyderabad, after which he was dropped from the national side.
Last month, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the Bangladesh tour, Harbhajan Singh's inclusion in the side sparked a debate among the former Indian cricketers.
Some former players said that one should not be picked for the Test team on the basis of his performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL). To this, former Indian star batsman Sunil Gavaskar had replied that the likes of Harbhajan do not need to prove themselves time and again. The 'Turbanator' has done a commendable job for his country in the past.
It will be interesting to see whether skipper Virat Kohli would go for both Harbhajan and Ravichandran Ashwin. One of the aspects that would strike Kohli's mind would be that both these players can bat down the order. Harbhajan has the highest score of 115 runs in the Test format along with one more century to his name.
The pitch in Fatullah would not be much different from that of the Indian pitches. It is likely to favour spinners as the ball gets older. Harbhajan will bring his experience into this one-off Test match if he is selected in the playing XI. Few days ago, legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan had also backed the decision of including both Harbhajan and Ashwin in the Indian Test squad for the Bangladesh tour.
"Ashwin has been keeping up with his consistency, and now you have Harbhajan back as well. I think he [Harbhajan] will have a good opportunity to play in Bangladesh because you can very well field two off-spinners in the playing XI.
"Harbhajan has been bowling really well not just in IPL, but also otherwise. He has already proved himself by taking 400-plus Test wickets," Muralitharan had said.
So far, Harbhajan has played 101 Tests and has picked up 413 wickets at an average of 32.27. He made his Test debut against Australia in Bangalore in 1998.
