REVEALED: How Skipper Azhar Helped 'Punjabi Speaking' Bhajji Ahead Of His International Test Debut

Veteran Harbhajan revealed that it was Azharuddin who helped him to feel easy ahead of his first ever team meeting before Day 1 of match vs Aussies

India's first-ever hat-trick man in Test cricket, Harbhajan Singh shared an incident from his 1998 tour of Australia - the tour in which he marked his international debut for team India in Test cricket under the then skipper Mohammad Azharuddin. Harbhajan was seen recalling the incident in a package aired by the official broadcasters during the ongoing India vs South Africa 1st Test, on Thursday, in Vishakhapatnam. The veteran off-spinner revealed that it was Azharuddin who helped him to feel easy ahead of his first ever team meeting before Day 1 of match  vs hosts. Harbhajan said the his inability to speak English made him feel uneasy. “Before my debut Test, the players were speaking in English in the dressing room during a team meeting. I didn’t understand much as I couldn’t speak the language back then. I was asked to speak something but I told them I couldn’t speak in English,” Harbhajan told the official broadcasters. “That is when Azharduddin came up to me and asked me what the problem was. I said I cannot speak the language. He asked me which language I was comfortable with and I said Punjabi. He then asked me to speak in Punjabi during the team meeting,” he added. At present, both Harbhajan and Azharuddin are doing their parts to make contribution to cricket. While Harbhajan plays IPL, is seen as an expert in several cricket pre-shows and is also a makeshift commentator, his former skipper Azharuddin was recently elected as the President of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), after he won the polls 147-73.