Harbhajan pays lip service to foesBy Josh Massoud
March 03, 2008 12:00am
TRADITIONALLY, the spit comes before the polish. But Harbhajan Singh isn't your typical cricketer.
Yesterday, he polished off any chance of an imposing Australian total and then spat in the direction of the hometown fans for good measure.
Whether more comes of Harbhajan's alleged saliva-loaded retaliation to a hostile reception on the boundary is up to the people.
A complaint to Cricket Australia or the SCG could force an investigation into the incident, which allegedly occurred in front of Bay 29.
Harbhajan would have been feeling a rush when he raced out to patrol the square leg boundary after completing his spell, although no one could have predicted it to be the kind that propels spit from one's lips.
If you happened to miss every minute of this summer, Harbhajan's 10 overs made up for it. To the delight of an expectant crowd, he bowled almost exclusively to Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.
To the delight of every Indian fan, he took both their wickets.
The burly Queensland pair and Harbhajan have formed the precise axis of antagonism that has fuelled the tensions that made last night's contest so compelling.
The spinner's infamous monkey taunts have bubbled between Symonds and Harbhajan, and Hayden this week sent the broth into overboil by branding India's firebrand an "obnoxious little weed".
There is more spice between this trio than in a robust vindaloo. Organisers could not have hoped for more than to see them in action - separated by just 22 yards - yesterday.
Harbhajan, as always, was up for the challenge. During the first 10 overs of Australia's innings he circled Hayden like an annoying satellite.
In the sixth over, for instance, the thin-hipped Harbhajan walked right up alongside the broad-shouldered opener and clapped in his face on three consecutive deliveries.
The Indian was covering more ground than Burke and Wills in an effort to remind Hayden of his presence.
In the 10th over he detoured at least 20m en route from point to mid-on to slink past his nemesis.
Hayden's response was far less surreptitious. He simply bludgeoned the Indian attack.
After a trying week of controversy in which he was unfairly censured for his remarks about Harbhajan, it was a performance that oozed character.
By the time Harbhajan removed his floppy white hat to begin bowling the 16th over, Hayden had a running start.
His half-century was raised the previous over with a drive past Harbhajan. Of his eight boundaries, it was three straight fours from the bowling of Irfan Pathan that summed up Hayden's mindframe.
He raised his half-century off just 43 balls the over before Harbhajan commenced hostilities.
The milestone was greeted with a fist pump, usually an over-reaction for a 50 but understandable given the tinder-box circumstances of the past week.
In the face of this rampage, a cold Harbhajan barely had a chance. Hayden picked eight runs off his first over - including a delightful caress through the covers for four.
Harbhajan's hands froze, the claps stopped and Bill Lawry told hundreds of thousands watching Channel Nine: "Harbhajan Singh is doing nothing today."
He mightn't have been taking wickets, but the screws were being turned ever so slowly.
After recovering with a healthy rate of six-an-over following the loss of three quick wickets to begin with, Australia's run-rate began to stall under the strain of some tight bowling from its nemesis.
Hayden and Symonds squeezed just a handful of runs from Singh's third and fourth overs. Then, on the first ball of his fifth, the tables turned.
Symonds, like a wild animal contained in a shrinking cage, lashed out and was fatally wounded. He advanced, misjudged the late turn, and mis-hit to deep mid-wicket.
The catch in the deep brought mixed reactions.
While Symonds kicked the ground, Harbhajan kicked the air. A threatening partnership of exactly 100 runs had been broken, and, within a single delivery, the visitors were back on top with Australia at 4-124.
Nevertheless, Hayden had been the dominant partner. But even he was slowing.
Gaining in confidence, Harbhajan added a slip to his attacking field and although the Indians were struggling to pick the ball off the ground, they had a knack for plucking it out of the air.
Midway through Harbhajan's eighth over, Haydnen holed out. His slog sweep was the shot of a frustrated man, a Ferrari forced to crawl through peak-hour traffic.
As he trudged off, Hayden was not nearly as animated in his disappointment as Symonds. Harbhajan, however, was more pointed in his celebrations.
He virtually bounced over to the rest of his teammates and embarked on an impromptu round of shadow boxing with Yuvrav Singh.
Suddenly, their pre-match promise that Hayden "was in for a fight" made sense.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23307873-5001023,00.html
AuthorTopic: India vs Australia CB Series Final 1st match 2nd March 2008 (Read 4581 times)
