Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh says Pakistani cricketing legend Younus Khan gave him a tough time during his cricketing days.
During an Instagram live session with Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, he said five batsmen troubled him a lot as a bowler.
“I found Jacques Kallis very difficult to bowl at in Test cricket. Then, I would say Mathew Hayden and number three would be Brian Lara,” said Harbhajan. “Younus Khan troubled me a lot. He used to sweep me all the time and used to make me cry. Inzamam is also someone I found hard to dismiss.”
Rohit Sharma then asked him to pick five of his favorite off-spinners of the time. Harbhajan Singh went on to praise Pakistani bowler Saqlain Mushtaq.
When @ImRo45 asked @harbhajan_singh name 5 top international batsman who gave you tough time. @jacqueskallis75 @HaydosTweets @BrianLara @YounusK75 @Inzamam08#RohitSharma recognized #YounusKhan who sweeps the ball well.. pic.twitter.com/ifPGDK9bqL
— Syed Noman Nazir (@nomanalam) April 24, 2020
“My favourite off-spinner right now is Nathan Lyon, so he would be there. I loved watching Graeme Swann because of his consistent length. [Muttiah] Muralitharan would be number one on the list,” he said.
“Also, Saqlain was a world-class bowler and a match-winner. No one could pick his doosra at that time. He was someone who used to bowl between the 45th and 50th over and win the match for his team by picking one or two crucial wickets,” he added.
“Then our [Ravichandran] Ashwin would be there. There is not a better spinner than him in India right now,” he concluded.
Interestingly, on the 23rd of April 2018, Younus Khan became the first Pakistani batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs! Younus Khan took 208 innings to reach 10,000 marks and has averaged just over 53 runs in his 116-Test career, scoring 34 centuries.
Earlier, Harbhajan Singh and then Yuvraj Singh landed in trouble.
Read more: Indians laugh at Shoaib Akhtar’s request for help for Pakistan
Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were derided on Indian social media after they appealed for donations for the charity foundation of Pakistani cricketer, Shahid Afridi.
Both the cricketers had supported and appreciated the relief work carried out by Shahid Afridi’s organization amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Read more: Harbhajan & Yuvraj Singh under fire for supporting Shahid Afridi’s charity
Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were among the leading cricketers who responded to the call of Shahid Afridi.
In a video message posted on Twitter, Harbhajan encouraged people to donate generously to the organization of Shahid Afridi to help him distribute rations among the needy people. He asserted that he is releasing the message purely on humanitarian grounds to assist a noble cause.
“These are testing times, it’s time to look out for each other,” Yuvraj wrote on Twitter in a call for funds.
Their videos have taken Indian nationalists with a storm. Indian Twitter space is rocked with a heavy discourse on their videos, with Twitter users weighing in, on their appeals to support humanity in these troublesome times. However, the scathing comments chased the cricketers following the release of their videos on social media.
https://twitter.com/CricHassan/status/1253349190488543232?s=20
After this, the cricketers had to post messages of clarification proving their loyalty to India.
Harbhajan Singh responded to his detractors with a video of the Sikh community serving three-time meals to tens of thousands of people stuck at homes in lockdown, self-isolation, and quarantine in New York.
In his tweet, he again reiterated the message of love and peace by saying that “No religion, no cast, only humanity..that’s what it is.. stay safe stay home..spread love not hate or virus.. let’s pray for every single one. May Waheguru bless us all.”