Bumrah Will Be Indebted To Virat, Just Like I Am Grateful To Ramesh: Harbhajan

Harbhajan asserted Bumrah will forever remain indebted to Kohli, just like he is grateful to Sadagopan Ramesh for an incredible catch at forward short-leg in 2001 series against Australia

India's first-ever hat-trick man in Test cricket, Harbhajan Singh believes Bumrah’s hat-trick against Windies, belongs to skipper Virat as much as it belongs to the speedster. The veteran spinner said that it was Virat Kohli's "gut feeling", which got him hat-trick. Harbhajan asserted Bumrah will forever remain indebted to Kohli, just like he is grateful to Sadagopan Ramesh for an incredible catch at forward short-leg in 2001 series against Australia that had set the tone for the series. The Turbanator had bagged a hat-trick against the mighty Aussies (Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne) 18 summers ago. "This hat-trick belongs to Virat as much as it belongs to Bumrah. The bowler wasn't convinced but the skipper had a gut feeling. What if Virat wouldn't have gone for that DRS? It was a brilliant call by the skipper which complemented his magnificent effort," Harbhajan told PTI on Sunday. Harbhajan still feels that without Ramesh's flash of brilliance, he wouldn't have been able to create history. "I remember that I discussed with Dada (Sourav Ganguly) and we decided to keep it on stumps and try for a third leg before but Warne flicked it. "Now to be honest, Ramesh wasn't the most athletic of the guys in that team. Yet at forward short-leg, he pulled off that stunner with a less than split second reaction time. Whenever I have later met Ramesh, I told him, 'buddy my hat-trick belongs to you'," Harbhajan fondly recollected. "That's why I believe that some things happen that come together and such a beautiful thing happens. It was Ramesh's brilliance then and it's Virat's conviction now," said the owner of 711 international wickets. The most endearing thing, according to Harbhajan, was Rahul Dravid's celebration. "I have never seen Rahul so excited, jumping with joy. Perhaps, he also didn't believe Ramesh can pull off such a catch," he said. For Harbhajan, Bumrah is the biggest blessing that Indian cricket could have had. "Indian cricket is blessed to have a match winner like Bumrah. This hat-trick will only help his legend grow but even without that he is an incredible performer. I mean 5 wickets in 7 overs in last game and 6 wickets in 9 overs in this game. You can't ask for more. He is a rare diamond," said Harbhajan. Harbhajan is not liking people raising questions about the quality of West Indies batting. "Obviously Sir Viv (Vivian Richards) and (Brian) Lara won't be playing on forever. They are playing their best Test team, the same outfit that beat England this year. And for Bumrah, he is the best fast bowler in world cricket at the moment," Harbhajan concluded.