In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and , only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A right-arm off break bowler, Harbhajan Singh has taken 417 wickets in Test, 269 wickets in One Day International (ODI) and 25 wickets in Twenty20 International (T20I) matches for India. He has the second-highest number of five-wicket hauls (28) in international cricketnext to Anil Kumbleamong Indian cricketers and the eleventh among overall.
Harbhajan made his Test debut against Australia in 1998. His first five-wicket haul came against the same team during the second Test of the 2000–01 series at Eden Gardens. His six wickets for 73 runs in the second innings of the match raised his tally to thirteen wickets in the match; his performance was instrumental in India winning the match after being forced to follow-on. In the third Test of the series, he claimed fifteen wickets for 217 runs, including career-best figures of eight wickets for 84 runs. The majority of his five-wicket hauls in Test cricketseven out of his twenty-fivehave come against Australia.
Harbhajan's first five-wicket haul in ODIs came against England in 2002, four years after he made his debut. He took five wickets for 43 runs in the match which India lost. His best figures of five wickets for 31 runs came against the same team in 2006. Although Harbhajan made his first T20I appearance in 2006, he has yet to take a five-wicket haul in the format . His figures of four wickets for 12 runs against England in 2012 remain his best in T20Is.
Key
Symbol Meaning DateDay the Test started or ODI held InnInnings in which five-wicket haul was taken OversNumber of overs bowled RunsNumber of runs conceded WktsNumber of wickets taken EconRuns conceded per over BatsmenBatsmen whose wickets were taken ResultResult for the India team One of two five-wicket hauls by Harbhajan in the match 10 or more wickets taken in the match Harbhajan was selected as the man of the match
Tests + Five-wicket hauls in Test cricketNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Eden Gardens, Kolkata Matthew Hayden Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Ricky Ponting Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Jason Gillespie Won 2 Eden Gardens, Kolkata Michael Slater Justin Langer Steve Waugh Ricky Ponting Jason Gillespie Glenn McGrath Won 3 M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Matthew Hayden Justin Langer Ricky Ponting Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Jason Gillespie Colin Miller Won 4 M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Michael Slater Adam Gilchrist Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Ricky Ponting Shane Warne Jason Gillespie Colin Miller Won 5 Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali Mark Ramprakash Andrew Flintoff James Foster Richard Dawson Matthew Hoggard Won 6 Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad Mark Butcher Nasser Hussain Mark Ramprakash Ashley Giles Matthew Hoggard Drawn 7 Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Stuart Carlisle Trevor Gripper Alistair Campbell Andy Flower Travis Friend Ray Price Won 8 Sabina Park, Kingston Wavell Hinds Ramnaresh Sarwan Ridley Jacobs Mervyn Dillon Adam Sanford Lost 9 Kennington Oval, London Mark Butcher Alec Stewart Dominic Cork Alex Tudor Matthew Hoggard Drawn 10 Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Chris Gayle Wavell Hinds Carl Hooper Mahendra Nagamootoo Mervyn Dillon Pedro Collins Cameron Cuffy Won 11 Eden Gardens, Kolkata Wavell Hinds Ramnaresh Sarwan Mervyn Dillon Marlon Samuels Cameron Cuffy Drawn 12 M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Matthew Hayden Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Michael Kasprowicz Glenn McGrath Lost 13 M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Damien Martyn Darren Lehmann Michael Clarke Shane Warne Jason Gillespie Michael Kasprowicz Lost 14 Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Matthew Hayden Simon Katich Adam Gilchrist Michael Kasprowicz Glenn McGrath Won 15 Eden Gardens, Kolkata Graeme Smith Andrew Hall Jacques Rudolph Jacques Kallis Hashim Amla Shaun Pollock Justin Ontong Won 16 M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Younis Khan Mohammad Yousuf Asim Kamal Abdul Razzaq Kamran Akmal Danish Kaneria Lost 17 Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad Marvan Atapattu Kumar Sangakkara Mahela Jayawardene Thilan Samaraweera Tillakaratne Dilshan Farveez Maharoof Lasith Malinga Won 18 Warner Park, Basseterre Dwayne Bravo Denesh Ramdin Jerome Taylor Pedro Collins Corey Collymore Drawn 19 Sabina Park, Kingston Daren Ganga Dwayne Bravo Ramnaresh Sarwan Denesh Ramdin Pedro Collins Won 20 Eden Gardens, Kolkata Salman Butt Mohammad Yousuf Kamran Akmal Shoaib Akhtar Danish Kaneria Drawn 21 M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Neil McKenzie Jacques Kallis Morne Morkel Paul Harris Dale Steyn Drawn 22 Galle International Stadium, Galle Malinda Warnapura Kumar Sangakkara Thilan Samaraweera Tillakaratne Dilshan Prasanna Jayawardene Muttiah Muralitharan Won 23 Seddon Park, Hamilton Martin Guptill Daniel Flynn Jesse Ryder James Franklin Daniel Vettori Iain O'Brien Won 24 Eden Gardens, Kolkata Alviro Petersen Ashwell Prince JP Duminy Dale Steyn Morné Morkel Won 25 Newlands, Cape Town Graeme Smith Alviro Petersen Paul Harris Hashim Amla Dale Steyn Morne Morkel Lonwabo Tsotsobe Drawn
ODIs + Five-wicket hauls in ODI cricketNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Marcus Trescothick Graham Thorpe Paul Collingwood Ashley Giles James Foster Lost 2 Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Matt Prior Andrew Flintoff Paul Collingwood Geraint Jones Ian Blackwell Won 3 R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Tillakaratne Dilshan Mahela Jayawardene Thilina Kandamby Lasith Malinga Ajantha Mendis Won
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