Turbanator: He146;s back

There is something about Eden Gardens that turns Harbhajan Singh on. He got in on the action early enough on Wednesday, entrusted the respon...

There is something about Eden Gardens that turns Harbhajan Singh on. He got in on the action early enough on Wednesday, entrusted the responsibility of increasing the Indian lead over South Africa8217;s 305. And there he was, batting the way only he can, and having an effect on the opposition in a way only he can. Not often will you see an opposition smiling or laughing when a batsman hits them around, but Bhajji manages that, and manages that oftener than not.

And 8212; since we are on the topic of laughing 8212; Bhajji was the one laughing the widest at the end of the day8217;s play. With the ball in his hand 8212; he looks considerably better than when with the bat 8212; Bhajji scraped out the upper crust of the Safs8217; batting order, and if the Indians sleep well tonight, having effectively reduced South Africa to 66/5, they will have Bhajji to thank for it.

It all started in the 17th over of the Safs8217; innings, after new ball bowlers Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan had had little effect on opener Graeme Smith and Andrew Hall. It was a whole new game after that and with the Eden Gardens pitch providing the right amount of rough and bounce for him, Harbhajan was on his way to repeating 2001.

He mixed his deliveries beautifully and kept the batsmen guessing at all times. Offies, top-spinners, doosras, yorkers8230;Bhajji bowled them all. But most importantly, he did what the Australians do so well: strike early. And his end-of-the-day figures of four for 58 probably don8217;t explain the whole story.

For as long as he was in the attack, the safs were wrapped up in knots.

Hall went gloving a sweep to one that bounced a touch extra, Jacques Rudolph padded up to a viciously spinning doosra, Smith outside-edged one to a brilliant slip catch by VVS Laxman and Hashim Alma went 8212; maybe unluckily 8212; bat-padding one behind the stumps. He also had Jacques Kallis, but umpire Daryl Harper missed spotting an inside edge to forward short-leg Gautam Gambhir.

Bhajji also didn8217;t disappoint his growing legion of fans who wait for the Sardar to lose his cool at the first opportunity. Moments after the Kallis appeal was disallowed, Harbhajan showed his disappointment by starting his chats with Smith and Kallis. He even seemed to cross the line somewhat when he knocked off a stump at the bowler8217;s end, in reaction to nothing of any apparent import. He appealed for everything and had a word for every situation. The effect? Nothing apparent, but Smith did get out soon after.

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Kallis still stands and if you check with Harbhajan, he8217;ll know that the onus will be on him to get Kallis out a second time. And then, there is the tail for his picking.

SCOREBOARD

	nbsp;	8226; SA 1st Innings: 305 India 1st Innings: V Sehwag c Smith b ntini 88; G Gambhir lbw Pollock 7; R Dravid b Hall 80; S Tendulkar b De Bruyn 20; S Ganguly lbw De Bruyn 40; VVS Laxman c Ontong b Ntini 38; D Kaarthick lbw Pollock 46; I Pathan c Smith b Ntini 24; A Kumble c Kallis b Ntini 8; Harbhajan Singh c Dippenaar b Ontong 14; Z Khan not out 11; Extras lb-19, nb-10, w-6 35. Total all out, 150.1 overs 411 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-144, 3-189, 4-238, 5-267, 6-308, 7-366, 8-382, 9-387 Bowling: S Pollock 45-13-101-2, M Ntini 44-9-112-4, J Ontong 18.1-1-79-1, A Hall 27-5-68-1, Z De Bruyn 16-4-32-2. SA 2nd Innings: G Smith c Laxman b Harbhajan Singh 71; A Hall c Kaarthick b Harbhajan Singh 21; J Rudolph lbw Harbhajan Singh 3; J Kallis batting 52; H Amla c Laxman b Harbhajan Singh 2; B Dippenaar c Sehwag b Kumble 2; De Bruyn batting 9; Extras b-8, lb-1, nb-3 12. Total For 5 wkts, 58 overs 172 Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-81, 3-126, 4-138, 5-147 Bowling: Pathan 5-1-17-0, Khan 5-0-22-0, Kumble 26-5-66-1, Harbhajan Singh 22-3-58-4.	nbsp;