Harbhajan Singh Singles Out Major Factor Which Will Decide Whether He Will Retire After Next IPL Or Not

Harbhajan who was the front line spinner with a highly successful Mumbai Indians side, spent 10 seasons (2008-2017) with four-time IPL champions before joining Chennai Super Kings in 2018. Harbhajan was instrumental in leading Mumbai Indians to a Champions League title in 2011.

Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has been out of favour from the international team for the past 4-odd seasons but continues to be an integral element of the CSK spin armoury in the IPL opened up on his future in the flagship T20 league. The veteran off spinner who occupies the third spot in the all-time leading wicket-takers list in the IPL said that his physical state will determine whether this year’s tournament will be his last. “I can’t say whether this will be my last IPL. It depends on my body. After four months of workout, rest, yoga sessions, I feel reinvigorated just like 2013, when I had 24 wickets in that IPL edition,” Harbhajan told PTI. Harbhajan who was the front line spinner with a highly successful Mumbai Indians side, spent 10 seasons (2008-2017) with four-time IPL champions before joining Chennai Super Kings in 2018. Harbhajan was instrumental in leading Mumbai Indians to a Champions League title in 2011. Harbhajan, who despite his stellar record in international cricket has been overlooked by the Indian selectors amid the rise of potent and younger spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal in recent times.The offie been turning up match winning performances in the IPL despite not playing any other form of cricket. Not playing domestic cricket to remain in shape for the IPL may be a worry for most cricketers, but at Harbhajan’s experience, there’s nothing wrong in it. “To each his own. If someone feels he wants game time, good for him. If I bowl 2000 balls at the nets for a month, the amount of top-level cricket I have played, it’s good enough,” Harbhajan said. Harbhajan has played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is for India, his last match for India coming in March of 2016 in the Asia Cup against the UAE. Behind Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev, Harbhajan is India’s third-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 417 wickets. Looking back at his near two-decade long India career, Harbhajan, more than anything else, acknowledged how great a leveller cricket is. “That every day was like an exam,” he said. “A lot of papers went well and I got good marks and a few I didn’t do well as much as I would have liked. “It was like a great leveller. When you played actively for India, you could never celebrate a good performance for days as there was another challenge right down the corner.”