On the opening day of IPL 2019, it was old warhorse Harbhajan Singh who stepped up to be the Man of the Match for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), finishing with match figures of 3/20 in his four overs. Having endured a disappointing IPL season last year and having failed to take any wickets in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy tournament, not many would have predicted Harbhajan to be in the CSK playing XI on Saturday, let alone be the standout performer. Speaking after the match, the unlikely hero said, "RCB had a lot of left-handers and coach Stephen Fleming told me yesterday that I would be playing and bowling in the powerplay." To the surprise of many, it was the 38-year-old veteran who MS Dhoni threw the ball to in the powerplay overs. When Harbhajan was done with his four overs, RCB were tottering at 39/4 in eight overs and the balance of the match had been effectively shifted to the home team's favour. "You can't ask for a better start. It was nice to get a wicket up front and it gets easier after that. Great feeling to get the Man of the Match in the first match and hopefully we can carry on from here," he said. "Imran (Tahir) bowled really well in the latter part after I bowled out," he added. Promoted Harbhajan was elated that his three wickets were none other than RCB skipper Virat Kohli, the dangerous AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali. "It was nice to get Virat's and AB's wickets. How often does an off-spinner get their wickets! It is a nice challenge and it is nice to sit on this side and take this award."<doc-sep>It was a forgettable day for the famed RCB batting line-up in Chennai as they were bamboozled by the CSK spin trio of Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja and were skittled for a paltry 70 – their joint second-lowest score in IPL history in the tournament opener on Saturday. Harbhajan, who was introduced in the powerplay, led the charge and saw the back of the RCB skipper, Virat Kohli in the 4th over of the innings – caught at deep- midwicket off a short delivery – a lucky break for the off-spinner. He then foxed Moeen Ali with a length ball which just held up on the England batsman who was early into the shot and could just manage to lob a simple catch back to the bowler. Harbhajan was not done yet. He induced AB de Villiers into playing a sweep shot and with the ball not coming onto the bat on a slow Chepauk wicket, the South African top-edged a catch to a diving Ravindra Jadeja at mid-wicket. Harbhajan finished his spell conceding 20 runs in his 4 overs but more crucially he had rattled the RCB top-order picking three wickets – including those of the two greats Kohli and De Villiers. He also bowled as many as 13 dot deliveries in his quota of 4 overs. Not surprisingly, Harbhajan holds the record of having delivered the maximum number of dot balls in IPL history (1141). RCB could not quite recover from this initial setback. Imran Tahir (3-9 in 4 overs) and Jadeja (2-15 in 4 overs) ran through the middle and lower-order and they were bowled out for 70 in 17.1 overs – the joint sixth-lowest score in IPL history. The spin trio combined to take 8 wickets conceding just 44 runs in their 12 overs – only once before spinners accounted for 8 wickets in an innings in an IPL match (CSK vs Deccan Chargers at Vizag in 2012. (AP Images) But it was really Harbhajan who broke the backbone and the spirit of the RCB top order. Tahir and Jadeja just finished the job. The Indian off-spinner became the joint-highest wicket-taker against the RCB (with Ashish Nehra) in IPL. He now aggregates 23 wickets in 22 matches (78 overs) against the Challengers at an average of 24.52 and strike rate of 20.3. His economy rate of 7.23 against them is also quite impressive. Harbhajan’s wicket-tally (against RCB) is the second-highest amongst all the franchises he has played against in the IPL. Harbhajan has a good overall record at Chepauk. He has picked 12 wickets at the venue at 24.17 apiece and a strike rate of 21 and an excellent economy rate of 6.90 in the IPL. Harbhajan is the joint fourth-highest wicket-taker in IPL history. He has picked 137 wickets in 147 bowling innings at 26.82 apiece and a strike rate of 22.8. He is also one of the most restrictive bowlers in IPL history with an economy rate of 7.03. Harbhajan Singh has been part of three IPL title wins with Mumbai Indians and played a pivotal role in two of them. In 2013, he was the highest wicket-taker for the franchise and picked 24 wickets in 19 innings at 19 apiece at an excellent economy rate of 6.51 whereas in 2015, he picked 18 wickets at 24.77 apiece. Though he is an all-time great in the history of the league, Harbhajan has not been amongst the wickets in recent years and hasn’t in fact picked a total of 10 wickets in any of the previous three seasons. That might change this time around.<doc-sep>Harbhajan Singh lauded by Yuvraj Singh after stellar show against RCB | Photo Credit: AP Chennai Super Kings thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in the opening clash of the Indian Premier League 2019. Harbhajan Singh played an instrumental role in CSK's thumping win with his brilliant spell as he wreaked havoc on the RCB top order. On a slow pitch at the Chepauk Stadium, Harbhajan spun his magic as he finished with figures of 3/20 in four overs. Veteran all-rounder and Mumbai Indians star Yuvraj Singh lavished praise on the off-spinner as he was left in awe of the 38-year-old's performance. Harbhajan, who did not bowl his quota of 4 overs even in a single match last season for CSK, picked up the all-important wickets of Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers on Sunday as RCB suffered a massive collapse. Yuvraj took to Twitter to hail Harbhajan as he wrote, "Form is temporary class is forever! Singh is king @harbhajan_singh." With the victory, Chennai got off to a perfect start at home and will be looking to continue their momentum in the season. Form is temporary class is forever ! Singh is king @harbhajan_singh — yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) March 23, 2019 Chennai Super Kings played three regular spinners in form of Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan and Imran Tahir and the move from MS Dhoni paid off well as the spinners dominated right from the first over. The trio of Jadeja, Harbhajan and Tahir picked up eight wickets between them and tormented the RCB batting lineup. Harbhajan was awarded Man of the Match for his stellar performance. The veteran spinner in the post-match press conference said that being the senior bowler in the side, the franchise expects him to come up with performances like these more often. "It is nice to be on the winning side and contributing, especially taking the wickets of Virat (Kohli), AB (de Villiers) and Moeen (Ali)...top-order batters. This is the kind of performance that is expected from me, being the senior bowler in the side," Harbhajan said.<doc-sep>
The IPL 2019 opener turned out to be really special for Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina both (BCCI Photo) Harbhajan Singh roared back to form on Saturday with a three-wicket haul that rocked the top-order of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2019 opener at Chepauk. MS Dhoni's decision to play three specialists spinners paid rich dividends for the home side as they made the most of the turning track at the MA Chidambaram stadium to bamboozle the clueless RCB batsmen. Dhoni opened the attack with Harbhajan Singh bowling the second over. The off-spinner repaid the faith of his captain as he got rid of Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers in consecutive overs which broke the back of the RCB batting lineup. Imran Tahir (3 for 9) and Ravindra Jadeja (2 for 15) then took care of the rest of the RCB batsmen. Harbhajan bowled his full quota of 4 overs in one spell which made all the difference in the final outcome of the match as CSK bowled out RCB for the joint sixth-lowest total in IPL history. Harbhajan was wicketless for 7 matches since he dismissed Rajasthan Royals' Ben Stokes on May 11, 2018. Last season, Harbhajan got just 7 wickets in 13 matches. But in the new season, he destroyed RCB with three top wickets. Harbhajan's IPL tally now stands at 137 wickets. The 38-year-old veteran India cricketer dedicated his man-of-the-match award to his family after the game. "It is nice to be out there on the park and it is a special one for me. I would like to give a lot of credit to my wife and daughter for this award. You can't ask for a better start - they had a lot of left-handers and (Stephen) Fleming told me that I would be playing and bowling in the powerplay. "It was nice to get a wicket up front and it gets easier after that. Great feeling to get the Man of the Match in the first match and hopefully we can carry on from here. Imran (Tahir) bowled really well in the latter part after I bowled out; it was nice to get Virat's and AB's wickets. "How often does an off-spinner get their wickets! It is a nice challenge and it is nice to sit on this side and take this award," Harbhajan said at the post-match presentation ceremony. CSK bowled out RCB for 70 in 17.1 overs and then chased down the target with 7 wickets and 14 balls to spare to register its seventh successive win over the Bangalore-based team. Royal Challenger Bangalore haven't defeated the yellow brigade since 2014. The head-to-head record between these two teams also favours CSK with Dhoni's team winning 15 matches in 23 meetings. This was the second time RCB were bowled out under 100 in the opening match of the IPL. They had managed just 82 in the 2008 season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders. This was also RCB's joint second lowest total in the tournament's history.